The Warrior Prince
by opshipperondeck
Summary: In an alternate timeline, Sanji's mother Sora died giving birth, thus rendering her unable to nourish the humanity that was still left in Sanji. Instead of being exiled and un-personed by his father, he is sent on a warrior trial that is supposed to last for three years.
1. Prelude

Alright, whaddup folks! It's been quite a while since I have written a fanfiction for One Piece and I honestly think that this dry period should end right now. Especially because I've been bitching a whole lot about a story that I actually really like. So, sorry? Anyway, this is the prelude with some teasers for the first chapter of an alternate timeline, the main characters – again, you know me – are both Sanji and Nami, but there will be others. Be warned about ooc-characters, though. As I said, it's an alternate timeline in which Sanji's mother passed away during child birth, making it impossible for her to nourish the humanity that Sanji still had in him. I really don't want to spoil too much, but be prepared for him being a general jerk and using weapons.

* * *

 _Prelude_

 _The clock struck 1pm and he was still nowhere in sight, even though he must have known that their employer did hate late arrivals with a passion. Not even their slightly elevated position would be very useful if he decided to have their heads on a whim._

 _Royals, he thought with a joyless smile._

 _For all his travelling, it was still rather difficult to grasp the concept. Not even the concept, but the fact that many of these people vehemently defended the legitimacy of their sovereign. Some cultures venerated their respective rulers because – or so they said – they were godsend or were even believed to be celestial progeny, while others respected the royal family because of – as the others would say – might makes right._

 _Enormous military might was indeed enough of pillar to keep almost everyone on top, even if that particular person was lacking even the most basic - and funnily enough in his eyes, the most **human –** qualities._

 _But he could ponder about these particularities more or less indefinitely and would never reach a satisfying conclusion. Fortunately, he didn't need to as he finally heard and smelled his friend and colleague approaching. Smelled, not because of showers he should have taken, but because of the special and strong brand of tobacco he was smoking._

 _That tobacco wasn't the only peculiar thing about him. His friend was slightly taller than him and had completely white hair, a rare attribute even when one was taking the whole of the Grand Line into account._

 _"I'm late", the other man noted and they shared a glance and a grin._

 _"Tell me something new. Anyway, are there unexpected developments regarding the boy?"_

 _"Nope, nothing. He's more restless than ever, but that's about it. As unhappy as ever with his current physical state, even moreso when compared to his siblings. What are you going to tell the king?"_

 _He shrugged._

 _"Some of the details he wants to hear, way more about the things that he needs to hear. The situation is royally botched as it is, we might as well stick through it and enjoy it from the front row."_

 _The other one nodded and finally crushed the cigarette under his heel, gesturing towards the great wooden door they were standing beside._

 _"After you."_

* * *

 _"Stone, Avian, how nice of you to finally arrive mere five minutes after the appointed time", their employer began by as he was rising from his chair. An imposing behemoth of a man witch a chest as broad as a wardrobe and a ferociously looking blonde mane on his head._

 _"The both of you actually know that it's very impolite to let a king wait?", before one of them could answer, he continued. "I'd have your heads if I wasn't giving you the benefit of the doubt that you might actually hold important informations regarding the development of my children. Don't prove me wrong."_

 _The men looked at each other and slowly nodded, then the larger one produced sheets obviously containing some kind of data from a folder he was carrying under his arms and placed them in front of the king._

 _"As His Highness can see, the physical development of His children can be considered complete. Princes Ichiji, Niji, Yonji and princess Reiju are fully capable to outrun any specimen of the type MSP with ease and without breaking a sweat, we conducted tests on a specifically designed obstacle course in the last week, having each of them participate a hundred times. This same course did cost the .. resource of 37 MSP just during the testing phase, 65 more of them were grievously wounded and had to be euthanised shortly after. His Majesty's children, however, could have run the same course a hundred times more and there would be little to no measurable difference regarding their resting and strained pulse._

 _With last month's results of the hand-to-hand-combat tests against an increasing number of type MST specimen in mind, the whole team concluded Your Majesty's children are physically more than ready to use their customised raid suits to their full efficacy."_

 _The king rested the cold gaze of his steely blue eyes upon them and both knew that he was waiting for the results of his last son._

 _"Prince Sanji's tests, as Your Majesty might already have anticipated, unfortunately had slightly different outcomes. During the unarmed combat tests, he was able to hold his own against up to a maximum of nine MST specimen, the tenth one finally enabling the soldiers to overpower him while His Majesty's other children went undefeated against the maximum number of 20 MST. Prince Sanji's results in the endurance test were more comparable to his siblings, though. He managed to complete each of the 100 runs through the course but suffered second-degree burns to his extremities and a rib fracture._

 _Other than that, His Majesty might want to keep in mind that while his strained pulse is significantly higher than his sibling's, there is still a vast difference between him and even the most specifically trained MSP specimen, hinting at the possibility that His Majesty's prenatal treatment might still be able to hold the same final results as with his siblings, if only they are taking longer to manifest."_

 _No one could say what the king would do with these informations, he just silently sat over his desk, glancing from Avian to Stone and back again._

 _"What about their command training?", the large man asked with a growling voice._

 _"Your Majesty might be more pleased with these results", Stone began and placed his own sheets, containing both statistics with densely described annotations to them and the theoretical scenarios of the conducted tests in front of the king._

 _"Our team conducted tests on standardised theoretical combat scenarios, containing the defence of a ship, counter-offensive scenarios after a successful defence, raiding of enemy supply lines, asymmetric warfare .."_

 _"Spare me with the details and tell me about the results!", the royal shouted, hammering his fist on the desk._

 _Unusual, Stone thought. The king was a scientist of renown himself and could normally be bothered with even the smallest of details. Only when it came to his children and, especially, his problem child, all traces of patience were erased._

 _"As Your Majesty wishes. The results for all of your children are entirely satisfactory with slight divergences when it comes to specific scenarios. Each managed a to achieve a Kill/Death-ratio of 10:1 in a balanced scenario, dropping to 6:1 for Prince Yonji, 7:1 for Prince Niji, 9:1 for Prince Ichiji and Princess Reiju and – an outcome which astounded us all – remained at 10:1 for Prince Sanji when the odds were stacked heavily against them in a defensive scenario._

 _When put on the offense against a heavily fortified enemy stronghold, Your Majesty's children averaged in at a 7:1 Kill/Death-ratio with Prince Yonji coming in last with a ratio of 5:1 and Prince Sanji leading the group with 9:1._

 _That being said, Prince Yonji would have taken the fortification in the smallest amount of time at 27 minutes, closely followed by Prince Sanji at 29 minutes, Prince Ichiji at 31 minutes with Princess Reiju coming in last at 35 minutes."_

 _The king was frowning and Stone thought that he must have been asking himself how his thirdborn son could achieve these amazing results, putting himself before all of his siblings._

 _"How could Sanji achieve such a feat? His men would have managed to kill more enemies while he was still able to take the stronghold in a reasonable amount of time. Did he try to cheat the system?"_

 _"Your Majesty is asking an important question. Our evaluation has shown that Prince Yonji managed to take the fortress by force while burning through much more of the available ressources, in this case ammunition and soldiers. Prince Sanji, on the other hand, would have both used himself and a small amount of soldiers as a decoy and favoured an approach that didn't favour full frontal assault. According to our evaluation, the chance of his men taking the defenders by surprise were high enough to have a significant influence on the end results. That being said, with him using himself as a decoy, the possibility of receiving heavy – and maybe deadly – wounds increased by a large amount."_

 _Stone glanced to the side to catch Avian nodding._

 _"Your Majesty, the results of these tests give us enough of an indication that Prince Sanji, while his physical and martial prowess might not yet be on the same level as his siblings, shows incredible potential on a tactical and strategical level. He might need some more years to reach the same level, but could prove himself to be an invaluable asset of Your Majesty's army.", Stone finally concluded and took a step back. When it came to the subject of Prince Sanji, the king tended to overreact, especially when someone had the audacity to tell him that he just needed a little more time._

 _" **A FEW YEARS?!** Don't overbid your hand, Stone! I already have military commanders and strategic advisors, what I need are battle commanders that bring in victories!"_

 _When he had these fits, it was always difficult to say where they'd go, fortunately, the king was able calm down in a timely fashion, even his heavy breathing returned to normal._

 _"For the woman who bore him, I will give him this last chance. A few more years, you say? He shall have them. But not within my kingdom", the king sat down and opened one of the folders on his desk, going through the sheets at a rapid pace until he found what he was looking for. He ripped said sheet out of if it and handed it to Stone._

 _"He is to embark on .. what shall we call it? A journey? No, on his warrior trials. And he shall not return until three years have passed, this is the time I'm granting him to prove himself as a true heir to my name."_

 _By now, Stone and Avian were looking at the paper the king had given to them, both frowning._

 _"Your Majesty is giving him one of the Black Ships? They have not yet been tested in battle, let alone be put under continious strain."_

 _"I'm well aware of that, Stone. Additionally to the ship's crew, he is allowed to take a cohort of his own choice with him, that and an uncustomised raid suit with blank insignia. Furthermore, his initial budget will amount to 200 million belly, everything else he needs, he has to work for himself. Yes, he has to work for it. I don't care if he employs himself and his soldiers as a mercenary company or starts to raid villages and islands. He shall not be allowed to display our national emblem which also has to be erased from all the uniforms and from everywhere within and on the ship, he shall not be allowed to even **think** the name 'Vinsmoke' for the duration of his trial. Only if he is somehow forced to bargain with the Marines or some other representative of the World Government, he is allowed to reveal my family's name to the highest authorities.", he stopped for a moment to think about any further instructions._

 _"If the boy is dumb enough to allow his ship to be captured, the omega protocol is to be applied on the ship itself, the whole crew and every soldier on board. And remind him that if he has the nerve to return after losing it, he will be tried for high treason._

 _Additionally, if he has to hire more troops for whatever reason and they have to travel on the ship or get any chance to work with and understand Germa military technology, all of them have to be put to the sword after their work is done. As his military instructor and the supervisor of his physical development, you shall both go with him._

 _I expect bi-weekly reports from both of you and him, his target is to aspire at least one military engagement per month to prove his worth as a military commander, a strategist and an heir to my name. Do we understand each other? Stone? Avian?"_

 _I actually thought it would take a lot more persuasion to send us with him, Stone contemplated and finally nodded. Avian did the same._

 _"As Your Majesty wishes, we shall leave harbor on the Marauder in approximately ten hours from now."_

* * *

 **Chapter I: Teasers**

 _They knew! They always knew!_ , she thought as every possible worst outcome happened at once. She fell to her knees, wanted to beg Arlong to spare them, she wanted to promise that she would start all over again. But there was no reasoning with the pirate. In his mind, the villagers had to be eradicated for their disrespect, and now was the time to commence.

"SHAHAHAHAHAHA! You better say your good-byes, Nami! Come dawn, there will not be a human soul left in this rotten village!"

* * *

Thundering cannons shattered the silence as both opposing forces were about to confront each other. The villagers of Cocoyashi on one side, Arlong's Fishmen Pirates on the other with her inbetween, unable to stop it.

They would have slaughthered her friends, her family, if not for the sudden interruption caused by larger weaponry than she had ever witnessed, fixed to a menacing black ship that was as large as every marine ship she knew of.

* * *

The fighting around her was still in full swing, yet she only had eyes for the duel that Arlong fought with whom she thought must be the leader of these men. His movements were too fast for her eyes to follow and it seemed that he was toying with the imposing sawshark, easily avoiding every slash of his sword, taunting him with it and the words he spoke.

"Don't worry, fish, you are not going to die today, neither are your men. There's a bounty of 20 million on your head, did you know that?", the blonde man said, delivering another small cut to the fishman's face before he could even lift his sword.

By now, Arlong was too exhausted to answer. Nami realised that the swings of his sword lost their speed and ferocity, it was only a question of time when he was going to fall. Bleeding from dozens of wounds, this duel would be over very soon.

"As for your fellow fish, they will not be harmed. You do know that fishmen are traded for around a million per fully functional individual, right? People like how much work they can shoulder."

* * *

"This one is mine, now. Take her back to the ship, bathe her and put her in something nice to look at."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: Encounters**

 _After two years out on the sea, he finally had gotten used to the sight of two transponder snails put together._

 _He never admitted it to anyone else, but these moments were the ones that he despised the most. The proud warrior prince having to call home to give reports of his latest exploits. This time, though, he had something to show for._

 _The prince waited patiently as the larger snail worked to establish a connection, only for the second, smaller one that was attached to its shell to awaken. The smaller one was a rare sight on the entire Grand Line, and for good reason: A white Den Den Mushi was used by various Cipher Pol units, higher ranking marine officers and criminals who knew what they were doing alike to secure their communication. They were indeed a great thing to have, yet the time they took to actually do their work limited his enthusiasm._

 _Finally, he heard a voice that was simultaneously coming out of the mouths of both snails._

 _"Connection secure. How may I serve?"_

 _Sanji cleared his throat and almost forgot how he wanted to start his report. Luckily, he got a hold of himself._

 _"Write down my latest deeds for my royal father to recognise them", he began in a soft voice, carefully trying to hide any emotions like pride that he might have held. The soldiers taking these calls – that much he was sure of – were instructed by his father to not only receive the reports he made, but also to note how he gave them._

 _"After the continuous and time-consuming involvement in a handful of minor conflicts all over the East Blue, my journey's remaining funds began to dwindle. Although military engagements have been all but rare these past weeks, neither the sides which I finally decided to support nor the opposing sides would have been able to bear my expenses completely. Thus, I took what I could get and joined in anyway, even though underpaid", he paused again and recollected his memories. The next information was indeed very delicate and he wouldn't have been able to talk about it of not for the presence of the white Den Den Mushi._

 _"The financial shortcomings were solved within a night, though. We came across a Marine vessel at one o'clock in the morning, noticing them minutes before they were even aware of my ship's presence, as it is par for the course of the Black Ships to snuff out every ship light when sun downs._

 _At this time, me and the crew hadn't tasted open sea combat in a few weeks and I made the decision that it was our time to strike. Even moreso because I wanted to put the Marauder's power to the test against a standard-issue Marine cruiser under the command of some Captain Nezumi, as we found out later", again he paused, closing his eyes to relive the few minutes of combat they actually had to go through._

 _"When the Marines finally took notice of the Marauder and tried to hail us, it was too late, as we were already sailing parallel to their ship. They never stood a chance._

 _Knowing the layout of this type of Marine cruiser, I ordered the men to focus fire on where the enemy ship's Den Den Mushi must have been held. It turned out to be a bit overly cautious, as the synchronistic fire of our superior ordnance nearly tore their ship apart just within the first wave. Actually, I considered it quite disappointing at that time, but after the first thunderous roar of the Marauder's cannons, all it took to beat them into submission was to fire a second wave, this time filled with lead pellets, to decimate a large portion of the crew._

 _The survivors raised their white flag as soon as possible, even before giving care to their wounded. Only minutes later, I personally lead a boarding party to inquire about the ship's function in this – as a matter of fact - rather forgotten part of Marine legislature and executive. Luckily for us, the ship's captain Nezumi had survived the attack and was willing to sell his honour just for a chance to see another day._

 _In an effort to save his worthless life, captain Nezumi told me about a large sum of money the ship stored within hidden compartments, a payment for carrying out a continuous non-involvement policy by a fishman pirate named Arlong, the captain of a band of pirates some 50 fishmen strong. They are currently holding dominion over a village called Cocoyasi on the Conomi Islands without there being any kind of legal justification for them to do so", he stopped again and thought about how to deliver the last line._

 _"After we collected the treasure, which has an estimated worth of around a 93 million belly, I helped captain Nezumi and his remaining crew to achieve a quick death. We then left their vessel and destroyed it, leaving no trace of the engagement, our intervention nor the Marine vessel itself._

 _We are bound to reach Conomi Island within five hours from now."_

 _ARLONG! ARLONG! ARLONG!_ All she could think about was his name. He had broken the promise. She was so close, so close to freeing her village!

"ARLONG!", Nami shouted out when she finally entered his residence, only to find him sitting by the large pool, calm, collected and – this hurt the most – absolutely indifferent.

"Is there something wrong, my talented little cartographer?", it seemed as if the Gods had given him a voice for the sole reason of teasing her, yet she paid little to no mind to it. As quickly as she approached him, both her hands reached out to grab his shirt.

"The Marines working for you!", she was still shouting, this time right into his face. "They came to steal my money! You said you would never break a promise involving money! Tell me the meaning of this!"

The Marines had stolen everything she gathered in years. Every single belly that was supposed to buy the freedom of her village, of every man, woman and child and lastly herself. It wasn't so much her whole world crumbling, no, her whole world imploded all of a sudden. She couldn't stay in Cocoyasi, even though her sister Nojiko had been shot and the villagefolk was about to riot. She couldn't let that happen, not in a million years. All her work would have been for naught if they decided to fight, no one would survive, all of them slaughtered.

"Hm? But I did keep my promise, didn't I? When did I ever break it?", the fishman asked with a trace of annoyance in his voice. It wasn't nearly enough as to cover his amusement.

Arlong finally had enough of her, it seemed. His hands were large enough to be able to get a full grasp on her head, one she was powerless to fight against.

"Tell me, when did I EVER break my promise?", he asked again, this time in a booming voice for all the other pirates to hear.

 _CURSE YOU!,_ she still wanted to shout at the top of her lungs, yet his grasp rendered her unable to. If he wanted, he could have easily crushed her head with just one hand. Nami lost the ground beneath her feet as he lifted her up and under the overwhelming laughter of his men, he continued.

"Just seems to me as if you have to start over, my dear. But you've learned a lot along the way, didn't you? Maybe this time, it'll only take you five years, even less? Let's not break ties here, shall we? It wouldn't turn out too nice for you and yours."

Five more years of being a slave. Five more years. After she had been so goddamn close. Tears began to fill her eyes.

"ARLONG! COME OUT AND SHOW YOUR UGLY FACE!"

For a moment, it actually seemed as if the fishman was surprised by the uproar that originated right outside the gates of Arlong Park. The moment passed quickly and he burst out with sardonic laughter.

"SHAHAHAHAHA! Seems like your little friends are coming to play, Nami! You know what that means, don't you?", she was nearly knocked to the ground when he let go of her, slowly rising to his feet, towering over everyone. None of the fishmen seemed surprised in face of the uprising, something that struck even more fear into her heart. Not only didn't they seem concerned in any way, they were looking eager to confront the villagers of Cocoyasi.

As they entered the park, her heart sunk even further. Everyone able to carry some sort of makeshift weapon was here, lead by Genzo himself, the heavily scarred sheriff of the village. He was also acting as the voice for their fury.

"WE KNOW, ARLONG!", he shouted, raising his saber and pointing it at the fishman captain. "We will not let that pass! Not after all Nami did for us, for you, we're not gonna let that pass!", the villagers were filled with bravery that could only come from the purest form of desperation. Otherwise an admirable feat, but this time, it would mean their death.

"What you think you know doesn't matter here, old man. Raising arms against your rightful overlords means only one thing. You and your sad bunch of inferior beings shall face obliteration", Arlong's voice sent shivers through her spine as every thought she might have had was drowned in just one simple sentence.

 _They knew! They always knew!_ , she thought as every possible worst outcome happened at once. She fell to her knees, wanted to beg Arlong to spare them, she wanted to promise that she would start all over again. But there was no reasoning with the pirate. In his mind, the villagers had to be eradicated for their disrespect, and now was the time to commence.

"SHAHAHAHAHAHA! You better say your good-byes, Nami! Come dawn, there will not be a human soul left in this rotten village!"

There was no way out, she just knew that Arlong had to be believed when it came to this. It was death to bare steel against a fishman on this island, but th situation was even worse: They tried to start a rebellion.

"Please, stop this .. don't hurt them .. I will start all over again, get the money .. just don't hurt them ..!", her words were never meant to be heard as her voice was weak, shaking. Barely able to produce any sound at all.

In all fairness, though, her words would not have been heard even if she was screaming.

Thundering cannons shattered the silence as both opposing forces were about to confront each other. The villagers of Cocoyasi on one side, Arlong's Fishmen Pirates on the other with her inbetween, unable to stop it.

They would have slaughtered her friends, her familiy, if not for the sudden interruption caused by larger weaponry than she had ever witnessed, fixed to a menacing black ship that was as large as every marine ship she knew of.

This meant one thing, and one thing only.

 _The Marines have come to destroy the island. They don't want anyone to know about Nezumi's corruption, now they're killing the witnesses._

The projectiles shot by the ship's cannons were unusually large and didn't seem to gain the usual momentum of a cannon ball as her eyes were easily able to follow their path through the air. Sent on their way with unheard precision, they would impact right in the center of Arlong Park. The following explosions would silence their voices once and for all and the Marines would get a clean slate, coming out of it without ever even mentioning that something bad happened on this island.

"INCOMING! TAKE COVER!", more than one voice began to shout.

 _It's too late. Look at the size of these things. The blast will eradicate everything on this island. I'm so, so sorry. Nojiko, Genzo, Belle-mere. If I only managed to be faster, they would have left the island. If only the damn marines wouldn't have taken the money. Only a little faster. A little better. I can never make this up to you. I love you, all of you._

Nami closed her eyes and steadied herself for the impact and the following explosion. Indeed, the impact followed and shook the earth so hard that she fell to the ground. But instead of a burning sensation clawing away at her skin, instead of her eardrums being torn apart by the explosion, instead of dying .. she just fell to the ground.

More shouting occured. And shooting.

"ATTACK! ATTACK!" These were the voices of strangers. The Marines? She tried to sit back up again, rub the sand from her eyes to know what was happening. The only thing that did was to confuse her even more.

They must have been professional soldiers, wearing black uniforms with white cowls that only left their lower jaws and noses visible. But there was more that was odd about them and she probably would have recognised it if her head wasn't pushed down a moment later.

The next thing she felt was arms that embraced her, trying to drag her away from the scene. "We've got to leave, come!"

 _Genzo's voice!_ , her mind was shouting. He also had survived the initial impact and kept shouting in her ear.

"These are not missiles or cannon balls! That's some kind of drop pod!", and he kept dragging her towards the entrance of the park, yet his effort proved to be fruitless as another pod impacted right next to him, separating them as they were thrown into different directions. For Nami it meant going right back into the fray. Still, she was able to witness what Genzo was trying to tell her. The reason these unusually large cannon balls didn't explode was simple: They were neither cannon balls nor meant to explode. Made of what seemed to be black iron or some other kind of metal, the pods were aerodynamically designed, they even had metallic wings on them, maybe to readjust their course during flight.

What was most important about these things, though, was that they had doors edged into them. Doors that opened now, spitting out more and more soldiers wearing the exact same clothing that their vanguard was dressed with. The one thing that confused her the most was that they wore no sign of allegiance, no insignia of an army, no Jolly Roger, not the symbols used by the Marines.

It was one man that caught her eyes when he jumped out of the pod. Clad in a different uniform, another one without any insignia, he didn't even seem to care enough to bring a rifle or any other kind of gun. Instead, his right hand was resting on a rapier at his side. In contrast to the other soldiers, his blonde hair was visible as he didn't wear the same cowl they did.

As soon as he stepped out, it was his voice that overshadowed even the shouting fishmen trying to defend themselves against this attack.

"Beat them into submission! No unnecessary deaths! Follow me into the fray!", baring his rapier, he lead the fresh soldiers to support the vanguard and by now Nami had realised that they were indeed not shooting to kill.

Every fishman that fell to the ground, sometimes bleeding from a dozen minor wounds, was shackled by impossibly muscular soldiers. Some tried to fight on from the ground but were quickly beaten with the butts of their rifles until they wouldn't move anymore.

As much as a confrontation between the villagers of Cocoyasi and Arlong's pirates would have been a massacre, this managed to top it off. These strange soldiers were moving inhumanly coordinated, as if they were machines. She hadn't even witnessed tactics like these employed by the Marines and it filled her with grim satisfaction to see Arlong joining in now, his face a disfigured mask full of unrelenting rage .. and desperation?

Somebody had to be responsible for this, but before he could find out, he had to massacre these impertinent humans, and even a professional army would be headless without their leader. Carrying his brutal, saw-like sword, he moved on to confront the blonde leader of the attacking force and was met in kind.

 _He's going to kill him!_ , but her anticipation couldn't have been more wrong. The other man did not even try to evade Arlong's attack, he just stopped his sword dead in it's tracks with his own, being able to match the fishman's strength without as much as breaking a sweat.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU, IMPUDENT WHELP!", Arlong shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Heard that one before. Didn't leave an impression then, does not do the job now. You might actually be able to come up with something more creative if you didn't have the brain of a fish", these words, unsurprisingly, angered Arlong even more, but he was too seasoned of a fighter to go into an all-out attack again as this man had proven to be able to stand against his strength. They began to circle each other.

The fighting around her was still in full swing, yet she only had eyes for the duel that Arlong fought with who must be the leader of these men. And whatever attack the pirate threw at him, it was answered in a nonchalant, precise way. In fact, his movements were too fast for her eyes to follow but she did get the impression that the man was toying with the imposing sawshark, easily avoiding or deflecting every slash of his sword, taunting him with it and the words he spoke.

"Don't worry, fish, you are not going to die today, neither are your men. There's a bounty of 20 million on your head, did you know that?", the blonde man said, delivering a small cut to the fishman's face before he could even lift his sword.

By now, Arlong was too exhausted to answer. Nami realised that the swings of his sword lost their speed and ferocity, it was only a question of time when he was going to fall. Bleeding from more and more wounds, this duel would be over very soon.

"As for your fellow fish, they will not be harmed. You do know that fishmen are traded for around a million per fully functional individual, right? People like how much work they can shoulder."

 _What does that mean? Slavery is a forbidden practice!_

It was indeed just the implication of making slaves of his crew that sent Arlong into another fit of rage. Strength returned to his swings and for one single moment it looked as if his raw strength was enough to overpower his adversary.

It would have been enough if a certain condition was met. Both of them, the Fishman now fighting for his people not to be enslaved, and the human with a voice that was devoid of emotion, should have been characters in one of the old stories. Under this condition, the Fishman would have won. One last power surge as defeat seemed inevitable, one final glorious moment to secure the freedom of his kind.

As he cried out in both shock and pain, it became all the more clear that they weren't the protagonists in one of these old stories. The battlefield had grown silent, with most of the Fishmen either routing or having been beaten into submission. The masked soldiers just stood there and watched the fight, same as her and the villagers who had by now re-entered Arlong Park.

The silence after his cry was broken as his severed hand fell to the ground and the stump that had become his arm began to spray blood.

Whatever blow took his arm, it had been too fast for Nami's eyes to see. Everything up from the moment the assault began felt like a weird dream. And this was bound to be the climax of it.

It wasn't as much pain as utter confusion that was etched into Arlong's face as he was staring at what was left of his arm, unable to speak, unable to recognise his defeat. The other man wiped the blood off of his blade, sheathed it and began to speak. Even with his voice raised as for everyone to hear him, there was no warmth in it. No emotion or joy of victory. There was just contempt.

"What is it now, fish? Did the whelp bite back?", he circled his beaten enemy, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I'm waiting, Arlong. Haven't you been fighting for your freedom? Your heroic second wind is still nowhere to be found. Unless .. we're not in some silly child's story", he began tapping his index finger against his chin.

"I WILL NEVER BE PUT IN CHAINS AGAIN!", the sudden outburst of power coming from Arlong frightened Nami to the bones and she was relieved to feel Genzo's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you worry, Nami. They're here for Arlong. This'll all be over soon."

It seemed as if the other man was thinking about an answer, leaning his head to both sides before stepping in front of the kneeling Arlong. As he opened his lips, his voice was finally carrying an emotion. Rapture.

"Wish granted. Fewer mouths to feed and I just remembered that the price on your head doesn't care whether you're breathing or not", and as nonchalantly as he spoke these words, in one fluid motion he drew the rapier at his side and buried the long blade deep into Arlong's chest, seemingly ecstatic as all traces of life left the Fishman's body.

Nami didn't even realise that even before Arlong was dead, the cold eyes of the blonde man were fixated on her.

"This one is mine. Take her back to the ship, bathe her and put her in something nice to look at."


	3. Interludes 1

**Interludes I**

 _„So, any plan on how to start this?", thick smoke was filling the air in the small cabin, though both of the Den Den Mushi didn't seem to care at all. After travelling more than two years with at least bi-weekly reports given, they've gotten used to even the strongest tobacco and he wondered if this treatment would have negative influences on their long-term durability._

 _„I'm out of my depth, to be perfectly honest with you. Though I'd consider it a special kind of bloody hilarious that the situation has gotten this far out of our control", his friend gave for an answer before taking another prolonged draw from his cigarette. „The usual way, then? Start with the boring stuff and end it with the important matters?"_

 _„Guess so, even though it's doubtful that the king will consider the same matters important that we do."  
Before they could continue their conversation, a voice left the mouths of both Den Den Mushi at the same time._

 _„A secured connection has been established. How may I serve?"_

 _They looked at each other for a moment and finally, Avian cleared his throat to perform the usual shenanigans, as he put it.  
„Strategoi Avian and Stone reporting in. This report concerns both recent military encounters of the Marauder, our assessment of her performance in battle and miscellaneous matters that we consider highly important, both for the journey itself and the development of our captain.  
As previously reported by the captain, we aimed for a short military engagement with the fishman Arlong and his crew of pirates who were holding illegitimate dominion over the Conomi Islands and, especially, a village called Cocoyasi. As the captain already has given his report, we shall not recount most of the battle and the preparations beforehand. _

_The gist of it, though, is that he considered a pacification campaign on the Island itself a waste of his time, favouring a decisive blitz tactic. Both Stone and I are in agreement that his approach was the best option we had at that time as it also gave us another opportunity to put our shock troops to the test. The results were entirely satisfying as we didn't lose a single soldier in the encounter._

 _Regarding the performance of the Marauder herself, there is nothing to query about. The crew is exceptionally well trained and the weapons work flawlessly. Though there might be a point to make in that we ought to find a way to use less propellant for the drop pods that carry our shock troops. One whole barrel for the transport of six soldiers seems excessive as they are the most likely to be terminated within the first minutes of battle.", he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest, taking another deep drag of his cigarette._

 _Stone continued the report.  
„As for the performance of the captain, there's actually not that much to say. He arrived on the island with the second barrage of drop pods and led the troops from the front, armed with his standard issue raid suit and a rapier. He continued the engagement by singling out the Sawshark Arlong himself and defeated him in single combat, crushing the moral of the remaining fishmen. 45 of them have been taken prisoner and will be sold into forced labour as soon as possible. _

_Arlong, who had a bounty of 20 million belly – dead or alive - on his head, has been executed by the captain himself. His head was then surgically removed and conserved.", he glanced to the side to see Avian with his eyes closed. They had a long talk about how to deliver their criticism of what followed the engagement, yet still, chances were that the King would just shrug it off. He wasn't exactly a friend of the small folk._

 _„Moving on the the miscellaneous matters: In the opinion of both Mr. Avian and I, the whole operation has been massively corrupted in the battle's aftermath. Mere moments after the captain put Arlong to the sword, he singled out a member of Cocoyasi's community – a woman who goes by the name of Nami – and proclaimed her his property. Needless to say, the remaining villagers were anything but happy with his .. decision and threatened to attack us. Of course, even without the moment of surprise our shock troops bought us and even under the best of circumstances for them, they wouldn't have stood a chance, even less than the fishmen", at this point, Stone paused for a second, gesticulating towards the cigarette between Avians fingers with his mouth forming the words 'I need one of those, too'._

 _"And we're fairly sure they knew that the odds were stacked heavily against them, yet they still wanted to fight. Maybe not for that woman as an individual, but as a representation of the village as a whole. However that may be, the situation just got a little worse from there on out. Instead of simply scorching the village without leaving any survivors behind, our captain forced the woman to decide what would happen next. She could travel with him for the remainder of this year – on her own volition, as he put it – or sit back and watch what would happen if she didn't. This was the point when my dear colleague and I voiced our discontent with his course of actions, both as his appointed strategoi and teachers."_

 _Avian handed him the cigarette and a lighter, taking over.  
"At first, the captain ignored our advice and forced the girl to make her decision. 'One life for a year in exchange for the freedom of her people', he said. While this is fact, in the eyes of both Stone and I it doesn't serve as a justifiable reason. From an objective point of view and even taking minimal gain from future military campaigns into account, the money we confiscated from the marine vessel and the sum we'd get in exchange for the fishmen would have served us well enough for the remainder of this year. _

_Our captain, if that was his wish, would have been able to buy a whole bordello for a month and our financial standing would be far from concerning. Yet it didn't move him. We still tried to persuade him, this time from another angle, a strategic one."_

 _He waited a few seconds and took a deep draw from his cigarette, blowing the smoke out through his nostrils before he continued.  
"No matter how insignificant the village might seem now, it would have served our cause better to just liberate these people and leave them alone. In a few years from now and without the oppressive rule of Arlong, Cocoyasi might have actually prospered. And even if that were not to come true, our eyes are set on the future. In case of a possible campaign of conquest, no matter if lead by our captain or with the authority of the Throne, it would have served us well to have a loyal foothold in these parts of the world. _

_The captain's actions made this nearly impossible, there might even be open hostilities if we return here, and even if not, as soon as the villagers would see one of the Black Ships, they'd cry havoc and alarm every marine garrison or armed forces of their new liege."_

 _He nodded at Stone who was quietly contemplating the burning cigarette between his fingers.  
"It is thus that Mr. Avian and I found ourselves in a rather complicated position. The need for damage control for the sake of Throne and our duty to serve the captain at the best of our abilities had become conflicting matters that are in dire need to be balanced for the sake of us all. But as it is now, the course of action dictates for Mr. Avian and I to examine the girl, to keep the captain and the crew safe, even though we have no strong suspicion at this moment. At first glance, the girl is simply severely malnourished.  
Our next report will be issued either in fourteen days from now or when imminent need arises. Glory to the Throne." _

**2\. Dreams: The Pale Choir**

 _If there was any way men under the sun would have known to relieve themselves from the burden of sleep, he would have paid for it with all he had._

 _Unfortunately for him, there wasn't such a cure. At least none that wouldn't have killed him in the span of a few weeks. And these weeks he would have owed to his altered body, anyway._

 _Since his first real kill – a boy just his age, going for a pistol when he should have gone prone -, sleeping wasn't the same anymore._

 _Within the confines of his dreams, he wasn't shy to admit that he'd have loved to be more like his brothers. Just when it came to this._

 _After more than two years, he had gotten used to the familiar pain that was a part of these dreams. Night after night, always the same._

 _The taste of fresh blood on his tongue was one part of it. Blood that flowed into his mouth from lips that had coarsely been sewn together. His hands were bound behind his back, his body forced to his knees by forces invisible to his eyes._

 _Always the same. Only that after each campaign he lead, more tormented faces arose from sacred ground. And soon enough, he would hear their voices echoing in his head, without them even moving their lips._

 _"You killed me because I tried to defend my country." The soldier was always the one to start, for whatever reason. Still wearing his uniform, he seemed to be a warrior through and through. The captain remembered the campaign vividly. Many people found their death, but this one, he sent knocking to the doors of hell himself_

 _._

 _"It hurts .. so bad .. don't let me bleed .. kill me .." Another soldier, just with this one, only half of his face was left. The jaw had been torn off by heavy ordnance, one eye socket was a black hole, his body was missing the complete lower half and his right arm._

 _"My parents didn't know about my role in the rebellion. Still, you let them hang with me. Far enough out of my reach, not even granting us one last touch." The boy's face was bloated, his tongue was loosely sticking out of his mouth. When he was judged, he must have been a few years younger than the captain._

 _"You said that my face was pretty. Then you sold me to a brothel. Do you know how much I have to suffer through every single day?" Her face might have been pretty once. Now, it was an amalgamation of bruises. Teeth were missing. Her nose had been broken more than once._

 _"..." He never heard the voice of this one. A girl, maybe around the age of seven. She just stared at him, one of her arms barely holding on to her body. The flesh was burned down to a charred bone._

 _These faces and their voices were his companions every night. In every single one of his dreams, they appeared. But there were many, many more. And even though the fishmen had not yet been sold, they still paid their respects._

 _"Should have killed us right then and there. You humans make us work our fingers to the bone and shoot us like horses the moment we can't work anymore."_

 _"Or let us die deep inside of your mines."_

 _"Or force us to kill our kin for a bloodthirsty crowd."_

 _During the first nights, even the first months, he had tried to defend himself from their accusations. Many of them were suspect to martial law, which legitimised his decisions. Others were in the wrong place at the wrong time. All these things he wanted to say, but never did a single word leave his sewn-shut mouth. He would have been able to move his head. Nod. Shake. They wouldn't have cared._

 _Soon enough, He would appear. The Judge._

 _Every night, he told himself that he'd be ready. Every night, he was proven wrong. Every night, it broke him a little more._

 _A few seconds or an eternity later – who could have told within a dream -, the silhouettes of three people emerged from the darkness. The captain knew the one seated in the middle, how could he not?_

 _Imposing, majestic, indifferent. His royal father. Here to judge him unworthy for this night and all the nights to come._

 _The other two spectres were new to him, but seconds passed and as soon as he heard their voices, he knew their origin._

 _"The boy tries and tries, just to get it all wrong. Styles himself a warrior and a conqueror, yet only succeeds in the first steps. He's good enough at killing them, that he is, but fails miserably with each following step." It was the first time for months that something other than the final verdict of his father brought tears to his eyes. These two men were with him for all his life and here they were, enthusiastically delivering knife after knife into his back._

 _He steadied himself to receive his father's words, but instead of hearing his booming voice condemning him and each and every one of his efforts, the king remained silent. As if he knew that there was another voice to be heard, if only by the captain himself._

 _"Does it not wish to be rid of these?" A snarling voice asked him, so unfamiliar that his heart skipped a beat and his head turned to both sides, only to see everlasting darkness surrounding him._

 _"Is it not tired of their nightly accusations?" He could have sworn that the voice originated beside him. Now, it seemed as if it were coming from behind._

 _"Does it wish to know where salvation lies?" With all his heart, he wanted to answer 'YES', but his mouth was forcefully sewn shut and it felt impossible to even nod his head. Something about that voice, that now felt to him as if it was coming right from inside his head, made him instantly distrust it._

 _"Oh, does it wish to know Me? Me, who holds the key to salvation? Does it?" This time, the captain was able to force a reaction from himself. A simple nod._

 _"While they hasten through life and struggle to breathe, I am._

 _While they cherish their petty deities, idols and false lords, I am._

 _While they fight their trivial wars, live and die for mortal kings and pirates and dreams, I am._

 _While they aspire to be, I am and will always be._

 _All servants of kings and priests and false gods kneel to Me._

 _All pirates, no matter how mighty, kneel to Me._

 _Life kneels to Me._

 _Death kneels to Me."_

 _And in the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. Out of the shadows, an arm was being stretched out. There was barely any skin on it, so little that he wasn't able to say if it weren't just the bare bones. Still, the arm moved. Stretched out and held something right in front of his face._

 _It had on it the distinct markings of a Devil Fruit, but it was none that he had ever seen before._

 _"Should it aspire to find Me, it shall receive a gift. The key to the shackles it wears. With this gift, it shall know Me."_

 _The fruit just disappeared right from the hand that was holding it._

 _"If it decides to seek Me, it will find Me. And should it aspire to be My champion, it shall witness a glimpse of my might."_

 _And with one swiping move of the hand, all spectres – all accusers – disappeared, vanished into thin air, even the mighty Judge himself._

 _For the first time in over two years, the prince slept through a dreamless night._


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter II: White Walls

Staring at the metallic walls surrounding her, Nami recapitulated for the tenth time how the situation managed to go from bad to worse to abysmal and utterly terrifying. When she was still doing slave labour for Arlong, at least she was granted freedom of movement, the one thing besides the thoughts of her family and fellow villagers that kept her from completely losing her frail sanity. Because she was able to – even though restlessly – work towards a goal. With this goal taken from her, there was nothing left to do. She had been imprisoned before, that was just one thing that came with the profession that was forced onto her, but she was always able to wiggle her way out of every collar they tried to put on her. Simply because she had to. If she hadn't managed to free herself, she wouldn't have been able to steal more and more money. That couldn't have happened, all the people had put their trust in her. And until the very last moment, when they stormed Arlong Park in full force, she hadn't even known.

How could life actually go on for her? Of course, she tried to break out the moment the guards had put her into the cell, but to no avail. There just simply wasn't a lock to pick, the doors were locked from the outside only and her jailers were either the most disciplined men she had ever met or they were dead inside. None of them even shot a glance at her. That one special kind of look, the lecherous glances men have been showering her with as soon as she hit her 16th birthday.

 _Maybe they'll warm up to me in a few days. Then I might be able to plan an escape. I need to get out of here. I'll not stand for it, having been freed from one bastard to get caught by the next. This is not going to happen. I'll fight tooth and nail and return to my people!_

 __But what would happen if she actually managed to escape from this new prison of hers? The captain of this strange and menacing ship was very clear when he forced her to chose between a life in his servitude and the lives of everyone in Cocoyasi. He executed Arlong without a second thought, would sell all of his crew into slavery and was probably able to have a perfectly serene sleep over it.

She had known and seen coldhearted bastards and relished in stealing everything they owned. Some of them brutally abused their workers and paid them shit for it, but even these men usually were in possession of something or even someone – like a mistress - they loved or just cherished. This ship's blonde captain, though, seemed to be a different beast. He came to her in her hour of direst need and hammered light into the darkness within the cage of Arlong's tyranny and within the same breath, the saviour of her people revelead that he was as two-faced as an ancient god she once read about. It seemed as if he simply shattered one cage to free space for a new one.

She didn't know for how many hours she was incarcerated, not that it really mattered. Caught within a cell without windows, she would quickly lose her sense of time completely. Cold, electric light was nothing compared to the sun that once caressed her skin. Out of sheer desperation she actually tried to punch a hole into the walls, right after they had thrown her in here. Her bloody knuckles and the pain that came with them quickly convinced her not to do it again, so she just sat down on the equally cold floor and went back to thinking. Right now, her conviction was unbroken and she said to herself that she'd rather starve to death or die by sleep deprivation than to use the cell's bed or eat whatever they'd give her. If they actually intended to feed her, that is. Once more, she promised and swore to herself and her friends that she would escape. No matter the cost.

Just for now, there wasn't more time to think about it as she was able to hear foot steps resounding in the hallway. Maybe her captor would finally make her acquaintance or it were just some of his soldiers, bringing her food she'd throw away or buckets to piss in. She might actually use those, though. When the sound of steps came to a halt, words replaced them. And those managed to surprise the young girl.  
"We'd like to enter your cell now, miss. Please refrain from showering us with bodily fluids or other nasty things you might keep in there. Also, don't try to attack us, for your own good. There's two of us and two guardsmen outside and the probability is high that you wouldn't like the repercussions of such actions. If you accept these terms, please let us know either by using your voice or simply knocking on the door once."

 _Is that just a sick joke? I always knew Arlong was a bloody bastard, but even he wasn't that sick. Or .. was he?_

Devoid of any viable options, at least for the moment, Nami raised her left hand and knocked on the door. There seemed to be a sigh of relief on the other side as the speaking voice's tone lost a little of its stiffness.

"Your compliance is much appreciated, miss. Now, if you'd please stand back."

They gave her five seconds before she could hear the heavy steel lock being opened. As the door itself was pushed open, the first thing she could see were the silhouttes of two men, none of them particularly large or imposing, both wearing long hair. Her heart ached a bit when she caught the heavy smell of tobacco that accompanied them. It always reminded her of Belle-mère, an avid smoker throughout all her much too short life. Much to her surprise, one of them had his hands lifted as if to show her that they were unarmed, the other one carried a meal tray in his hands and a shoulder bag. The men entered her small cell and closed the door behind them, both of them wore plain black suits, white shirts under the jackets and ties of the same, deep blue colour. Nami immediately recognised that they were smiling. Not the smile of a psychotic murderer, but a casual, friendly and approachable smile, supported by round and warm brown eyes.

"You've got nothing to fear from us, miss. We're not here to hurt you. May we enter?" The smaller of the two was speaking, dark haired and displaying a friendly and amenable expression on his face. She simply nodded and silently scolded herself. Now that there was food in the nearest vicinity, her stomach was ready to immediately betray her.

"Seems like we're not a minute too early with the food." The taller of the two was speaking now, his hair being a mixture of black and white and a skin colour so pale that she thought it unhealthy. Otherwise, it was a plain face, adorned with two eyes of a very light blue and a nose that was just a little too big to seem normal.

 _Like a damn skunk. I don't want any of this rotten food. They probably have drugged it, so that it'll be easier to take advantage of me. I'm not going to fucking eat it._

 __"Wait, I know you. Weren't you trying to dissuade your captain from taking me prisoner?" The thought took her aback, maybe she wasn't surrounded just by enemies. The shorter of the two men nodded.

"That's indeed who we are. My friend's name is Avian, you can call me Stone. Again, we're not here to hurt you and I can guarantee you that the food – while it's a bit lacking in the taste department – is perfectly nutritous", when he recognised her doubtful look, he shared a quick glance with the other man.

"It's not poisoned or drugged either, if that's what you're thinking about. Nonetheless, we have a purpose here besides bringing you food. Seeing the state of your body, my colleague and I are fairly certain that you've been suffering from malnourishment for a while now, both regarding the quality and quantity of your food."

She made a face at that and, even though she wasn't yet ready to admit it, she felt a little hurt. Under normal circumstances, men were usually enchanted by her body and face, a fact that she managed to exploit all the way when she set them up to get their pockets emptied. Their minds simply weren't able to fight against the magnetic aura of her big, brown and apologetic eyes when she bumped into them by accident. Not once did their perception get the better of the sleight of her hands and when she walked away, smiling widely, it took them ages to recognise that their whole purse was gone.

"Why'd you care? I'm your prisoner, the state of my stomach means shit to you", she pouted her lips, again trying to work her usual charm on the two men.

"Might be right for some, but the circumstances are different this time. We've no interest in harming you, but in the same vein we need to protect the crew. When the body's malnourished, its ability to fend off infections and sickness gradually worsens and the last thing we need on this ship is the outbreak of an infectous desease." Nami wondered why that might even be a problem since she was being held in an isolation cell, presumably not even close to the incarcerated fishmen. 

"So .. you are the ship's doctors?"

"Nope, but this ship actually has a dedicated doctor. The problem lies with the captain and his orders", the shorter man stated, shrugging his shoulders before the other one continued.

"We're advisors, but don't worry too much about that word. Both of us have rudimentary knowledge about medicine, and some people in the past were smart enough to write down the characteristics of a healthy human being. Alas, even with our limited knowledge and the equally limited instruments we have at our disposal, we'd like to run you through some standardised tests. Weight, body temperature, blood pressure, mostly. We thought about taking a sample of your blood, but decided against it, in the very least for now."

"You've mentioned the captain's orders. What did he say", she interrupted him and once again. This time, both of the men shrugged in an apologetic fashion.

"Honestly, his orders don't make an awful lot of sense. He's restricted contact with you – for the whole crew – to a bare minimum. In his mind, that's providing you food and accompany you when you're allowed to take a bath. Asked about medical attention, he told us to mind our own businesses. To be perfectly frank, he seems quite .. smitten with you."

"Or possessive .. in an obsessive way, if you ask some people." The taller man, _Avian_ , she remembered, put down the meal tray on her plank bed and returned his gaze toward her.

"You're free to eat now or later. Or not at all, if you'd like to have it that way, but we'd strongly advise you against that. We don't .. exactly know what's coming for you, but starving yourself to death won't help just about anything that comes to mind. Well, except starving yourself to death."

He produced two cigarettes from the insides of his suit and gave one to the other man, asking her via glance if she'd have a problem with them smoking in the small room, which she declined with a short shake of her head. Their old childhood house had been rather small, too, and Belle-mère never refrained from smoking nor was she ever asked by her or Nojiko. As they both incinerated and the familiar smell of tobacco filled the air, she felt at home, even if only for a second. People all over the world smoked and sometime in the future, she had to get rid of the nostalgia that accompanied the smell. Or start smoking herself, but that was a question for another day.

"What do you mean by the captain being smitten with me?" The way they said it, it didn't sound very charming, it didn't sound like the blonde man who killed Arlong fell in love with her. Their words implied a rather much darker meaning of the word and – even if she really didn't want to hear more about it – she needed to, as to be able to steel herself for the oncoming storm.

"I .. well, he seemed to fancy your looks", Stone began, obviously trying not to make certain implications.

"You mean he **lusts** after my body?! He's not the first one to do so, he won't be the last. And let me tell you, none of these men ever managed to touch me without my permission and went away unscathed. **NONE OF THEM**!" The men were looking as if struck by lightning, but then they slowly began to nod.

"Yes, you're right. Seems to be running in his family, too." That seemed to be all they had to say about the matter and Nami felt absolutely disheartened. She initially thought that come time, she might have been able to flee make a great escape. Flirt with a few guards, steal their keys and get in one of the lifeboats and find the nearest port to get a passage home.

 _Would that bastard of a captain retaliate if I managed to escape? Very likely, I guess, but with Nezumi and Arlong gone, my people might be able to send a call to the Marines to get help. My life's on the clock, no matter from which angle I'm looking at it. I'll not allow that bastard to touch me. Never! Even if I have to .. to kill him?_

The thought alone sent shivers down her spine. No matter how much she despised many of the people she robbed, let alone Arlong and his companions, she never would have thought that she had it in her to attempt to kill them.

 _And without him having betrayed me, the other villagers wouldn't have thought of it, either. Maybe that is their game plan? Give yourself the mask of invincibility and try to dissuade everyone from trying to resist. When push came to shove, the fishmen weren't able to hold their own even for a few minutes. This ship, these men would have massacred them if they wanted. Would probably have been better for the fishmen. Even after all these years, I can't wish a life of slavery on anyone._

While she sank deeply into her own thoughts, the two men did their work, took her temperature and blood pressure and lead her onto a scale.

"That's actually a little surprising. Even though you're quite dangerously underweight, your body does seem to be able to hold itself together well enough. But yes, both your blood pressure and pulse should be higher. I assume that you're feeling cold and maybe dizzy relatively often" to which she didn't respond. The fewer things they knew about her, the better. Even if these two men were putting on a masquerade of amicability, everything they found out about her could help the perverted captain to pursue her, if he really put his mind to it.

"Tell me, where is this ship from?" The men seemed a little taken by the blunt question, yet Stone quickly regained his countenance and was the one to answer.

"Apologies, miss, but we are under strict orders not to mention anything related to that topic. Some boundaries, I fear, are even binding for us", he smiled a sad and apologetic smile and shared another glance with Avian.

"Isn't there anything you could tell me? I'm desperate for some kind of perspective within this hellish journey!" She was close to shouting at them but, with some willpower, forced back both the volume of her voice and the tears that were already burning within the corners of her eyes. She swallowed heavily and let a few seconds pass until she was fairly certain that her voice was back under her control.

"You don't need to be specific, just .. please, give me something I can put my mind on to. This ship and your captain, you aren't just a ragtag bunch of mercenaries or pirates. I've never seen anything that equals it. I've never seen soldiers, not even highly trained marine troops, work and fight in such perfect unison. It just seems unnatural to me, inhuman. Please, you two weren't what I expected when your captain took me prisoner, you treated me like a human being. Help me.."

"That might not be an easy task, miss. Helping you. Neither can we put your mind at ease without lying to you, nor can we force the ship's doctor to give you drugs to calm you down. At least not without the captain knowing it. The crew is loyal to him, beyond even the faintest shadow of a doubt. Even our short visit will, most likely, yield considerable consequences. How could we possibly make your lot easier?" Stone was the one to answer again, while his colleague Avian simply sat there and finished his cigarette.

Nami was smiling inwardly. They weren't even asking why they should help her. They asked how they could do it! If they knew the implications or not wasn't all that important, but they were ready to help.

 _Can't ask them to free me, they'll just laugh at me. And I probably can't ask too much from them right now, anyway. First step: Gather informations. Anything might help. Anything about this ship, about the crew, about the captain. A plan without intel is doomed to fail, no matter if it's stealing from people or escaping from prison. I need to know more about these people._

"I .. I just need something I can occupy my mind with, please. Not a book or a magazine, of course, but something that's in any way related to my situation. You can't tell me where this wonderous ship is from, I understand that, but is there just anything you might be able to share with me? I've never seen something that is both just so .. terrifying and magnificent at the same time." Both men shared another glance in silence before Stone let out a sigh. When he spoke again, his voice nearly was too low to be heard.

"Can't see too much harm coming from that, right? Here's one bit: You've never seen and probably will never see another ship that's this one's equal in your whole lifetime, simply because they were designed to be the undisputed apex when it comes to military vessels that can be produced in series."

 _The perfect military ship? That's, in the very least, something to draw conclusions from. The captain isn't just some mercenary or pirate, he has to work with or for someone or an organisation with incredible influence, power and wealth. And he said something about them being produced in a series, so it might not just be the insane dream of an equally insane shipwright to prove anything._

"What about the crew? The captain, or yourselves? Is there something you can share with me?" This time, the other man answered.

"Afraid there's not much that we can share with you. A warning, maybe. Do not try to persuade the ship's personnel to help you, in whatever way your mind might figure worth trying. It'd just be a waste of your time. There is and never will be a doubt of where the crew's loyalty lies."

"Are the crewmen as perfect as the ship's supposed to be? Where are they from?" The informations both men were giving her were vague as all hell, but even if they denied her any further answers, she would have something to put her mind to. And she didn't lie when she spoke about how awe-inspiring and terrifying the ship was. No matter what it brought, it was a sight to behold, even to someone such as Nami, who usually didn't have the time to care much about the vessel she was riding on.

"Sorry, can't tell you where the ship's from. And about the crew, the people they hail from .. well, they're cultured, to a certain degree. A fell people, grim and serious, a little prideful, maybe. Well versed when it comes to engineering, as you might be able to see, but what really drives them on is a whole different matter. They're possessed by a sinister lust for battle and conquest and war, that's what makes them who they are. From birth to cradle to adulthood, their lust for war is nurtured, and their culture reflects it. Before a serious military engagement, they bring great horns to inspire fear in the hearts of their enemies, they hold great pride in their military equipment and all their sophistication and use of science works towards a singular goal: War. Unfortunately, that's about as much as we can tell you about them without risking our own heads. Even when you're whispering, these walls tend to have ears, if you understand." Both men lit another cigarette and shared more glances.

"The ship's enormous, even when compared with marine ships. Does that mean that it's slow", the attempt was obvious to herself and to them, yet they felt inclined to answer.

"Trust us when we say that it's a lot faster than it has any right to be. In just a day, we very nearly crossed the whole distance between the Conomi Islands and the free city of Alaran", this information managed to make her gasp. Never had she heard of a ship that would be able to reach Alaran in under three days. But that wasn't all that important to her. If she managed to escape from the ship to reach the free city, she might actually be able to evade the blonde captain's grasp for a while and find passage back to Cocoyasi, but either she wore her thoughts on her sleeves or the men could read her mind, they continued.

"If you're thinking about finding refuge in Alaran, we'd advice you to think about it again. You might not have heard about it, but the city's basically on lockdown. Ever since it became independent, both pirates, marines and the local aristocracy tried to bring them to heel again, but to no avail since their trade money enabled them to hire whole battalions of mercenaries to fight any invader off. For the longest time, it seems. A very dangerous man has put his eye on the city and there exist enough rumours to make it believable that he's sent a fearsome army to .. negotiate terms with the city council." Pushing out the smoke through his nostrils, Stone continued his exposition.

"All the mercenaries in the whole of East Blue won't be enough to repel such a force, miss. These days, they won't admit anyone they're not a hundred per cent sure they can trust into the their walls. Pity that nearly all refugees from the surrounding smaller islands don't have the council's trust. They suspect spies and agents provocateurs at every corner." He leaned back and shut his eyes for the moment so that Avian could finish.

"The truth of the matter, though, is that if even half of the rumours about the coming army are true, they won't need spies. They'll come, rip through the city's walls as if they weren't even there, kill the council and enforce favourable terms with fire and steel. The marines won't help, on one hand because the city managed to defy them for so long, on the other hand because they can't reallocate enough strong troops for such a – to them – minor matter. Nothing short of an admiral or a bunch of vice admirals would even manage to hold the invading army off if their rumoured strength is to be believed. If you don't want to be a lickspittle to the World Government, you're alone out there. Trust us, even if you'd somehow manage to be admitted into Alaran, you really don't want to be there when the invaders arrive."

There was so much more she wanted them to ask as any further information might just be what she needed to complete her escape plan, but fate had decided not give her the opportunity. Large hands hammered against the metal door and a callous voice came from the other side.  
"The captain wants to see her now."


	5. Chapter 3

We're gonna me quite a few familiar faces in the next chapter, and it's going to be a blast! Thanks for reading, enjoy it.

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Chapter 3 – Dismay

For the very first moment, Nami was actually impressed with what she found within the captain's cabin. In no way was it comparable to the cell she was held in, or even to the rooms she had been living in when in her childhood house.

Everything seemed to be in perfect order. An eerie, unnatural order, to be precise. As if there was no one actually living in the cabin, having it only modelled for people to look at it. The large bed seemed both reasonably comfortable and never used at the same time, the equally huge desk that was placed in front of the room's single porthole occupied nearly a fourth of the room and seemed expertly crafted from some kind of expensive wood. At least that was the impression she got from it. All papers on it were in impeccable order and the golden lamp that was standing on its right side just enhanced the feeling that this room was only look, never to be used. Even the quills the captain might have used to write into his journal laid unnaturally still, as if an eventual wind never even dared to touch them. There was something else lying on the table, something important she made a mental note of.

Only then did she allow herself to take a look at the ground. Contrary to the cold, steel walls and grounds she was walking on and was imprisoned by for the duration of her stay, this room actually had a carpet and wood, of a lighter colour than the desk, covered the cold walls.

The eeriest thing about the whole cabin, though, was standing in its center. Tall and blonde haired, blue eyes as cold as an island of eternal winter and the boastful body language of a military commander and soldier, warrior even. His every movement, of which there were – at the moment – not that many, seemed both controlled and graceful, as if she was looking at a thoroughly disciplined cat. But this man wasn't a cat. The grace, Nami assumed, came from training at arms and nothing else. Thinking about arms, her gaze grazed the rapier with which he had killed the long time tyrant Arlong and Nami couldn't help herself but to admire the weapon. It must have been masterfully crafted, as the slender blade didn't show any signs of damage, even after blocking and parrying the fishman's giant sword. Besides the obvious quality, it was as plain as a weapon can be. Soft leather was wrapped around the hilt and the basket itself was plain steel. If Nami would have seen the weapon in a house, she probably wouldn't even have stolen it.

The captain was still clad in the same suit of darkest blue – adorned with an equally blue cloak - that he had worn when they battled Arlong and his crew into submission and, to Nami, something about it seemed odd. Odd as in: not normal for clothing. Even though her knowledge of machines and engineering was poor at the best of times, the suit itself appeared to be alive. Not alive with pulse or heartbeat, to be precise, but now that they were the only people in the room and there wasn't the sound of battle all around them, her fine hearing picked up two sounds, distinct from everything she had heard when she was in her cell or when she was 'escorted' to the captain's cabin.

The first one was a constant, low-static sound, as if there was something that continously pumped elecricity or any other kind of energy into an object, like a lamp. The second sound seemed to be more deliberate and not constant, thereby distinguishing itself from the first one. Whenever the captain made a move, even when he just twitched a finger (gloves that seemed to be a part of this suit covered his hands), there was a short humming. Granted, she'd never have picked up on both of these when there were other sounds to drown them out, but right now, they might as well have been thunderbolts to her.

Even though his gaze pointed in her direction, it didn't feel as if he was looking at her, but through her. She met people that seemed unable to show emotions, but with this one, it felt as if he just didn't have any.

 _Only when he ran Arlong through with his sword, he genuinely seemed to feel. Don't forget this, he's a killer. Nothing else and nothing bad that will come his way will be uncalled for._

"I've heard that you made the acquaintance of Avian and Stone. Be warned that they are not what they try to appear to be." Nami didn't know what to make of the sound of his voice. It was dark and what he said might have actually been a warning, but he didn't make any effort to convey a friendly emotion. When she didn't answer to that, he continued.

"Whatever you might be thinking about them, they're still in my service. Even though their days as warriors lie far behind them, there is – from what I've been told – no small amount of blood on their hands."

 _How can these days lie so far behind them? They didn't look a single day older than 30._

But the captain had made a fair point. These two men were a part of the battleship's crew, it was unlikely that they had never seen battle, never hurt and killed, never took the spoils of war as if it was their due. She needed to be careful whom to trust, if anyone at all. At least that stayed the same from her time as Arlong's slave.

"What could you possibly want from me?" The bluntness of her question didn't seem to irritate him, but neither did it visibly amuse him.

"Is that not obvious, woman? Try not to tell me that you're not aware of your own looks, false humility doesn't suit you. You're here because I want you here. In due time, your beauty will flower and anywhere around the world, heads will turn around and eyes will follow your path."

 _What kind of an answer is that? Does he think I'm an idiot?_

"Neither my people nor myself are rich, I'm not a valuable hostage for you. The people of Cocoyasi don't have any sizeable military force, they don't have weapons while you have it all. I don't understand why you've chosen me when you could have anyone else, on their own free will!" Her voice was growing louder and she moved towards him. Not that it managed to an impression. The man was confident in his skills and she had been searched for hidden weapons. There couldn't possibly be any threat that she could pose. And he knew a thing or two about himself that she couldn't even dream of. By all means, he should be invincible for the likes of her. A god walking amongst mere mortals.

Carefully, she advanced a few steps, getting closer to the man while her hands were balled into fists.

"Will I ever see my people again? Tell me the truth. Will you let me go if I manage to buy myself free? Everyone has a price, just tell me what's yours!" She knew that her chances of bargaining herself out of this situation were slim, especially because she didn't have anything to bargain with, but she still had hope that there was a chance. It had taken her years to steal all the money for Arlong, but she was better now. An equal sum would again take her years, there was no question to be asked, but maybe only half of them?

 _No matter what happens: I will have my freedom. I will return to Cocoyasi, to my family. Neither Arlong nor someone like you will stop me._

As she was walking towards him, her heart began to race in her chest. There were several possible outcomes of this situation and only one of them was to her absolute liking, but it was also the most unlikely thing to happen. Every other outcome would have dire consequences, but she was intent of trying her luck, anyway.

Around a meter from the ship's captain, she came to a halt and had, for the first time, the opportunity to really look at him. Not many things changed, but the additional informations she gathered were something to – maybe – think about later. Only his left eye was visible and it was adorned with a curly eyebrow, a form she hadn't seen before, neither with women nor men. To her surprise, the sight of it made him a little less menacing, yet her heart was still hammering against her chest and she felt her blood nearly boiling in her veins.

"Being a trophy isn't all that bad, girl. You might even have ways to elevate your status." Unexpectetly, the coldness in his voice was gone, or at least he tried to put some emotion into it, marking his words to be a little more welcoming. Even his body answered this attempt in that some of its stiffness went away and the movements of his extremeties reminded her more of that of a normal human being, not some wondrous elite soldier or whatever else he might have been.

 _Whatever I might have to do, there's a very high chance that he's going to be prepared for it. And I've only got one shot. One shot to be able to see my family again, one shot not to end up .. a trophy for him. Is he really a soldier? Or working for a Samurai of the Sea? An Emperor, even? I haven't seen anything on this ship that might be able to tell me of his allegiance. The two men said that they're hailing from a warlike people, but there's gotta be so many in this entire world and I'm not even knowing half of the nations that he might be a part of. I need to act quick and sudden and do something that he wouldn't expect, otherwise I won't get away with anything._

Her mind was working hard to find an out, but the longer she was in his presence, the number of possibilities just shrank away. From what he said, she was now fairly sure that he wouldn't let her go. Looking at how his cabin was decorated, how masterfully crafted his sword was, how imposing his ship, he couldn't want money, no matter how much of .. basically anything she could offer. Money, gold, jewels. A man in possession of the single most advanced battleship on all of the seas (at least coming from their own perspective) would not find himself wanting anything that he couldn't take by force or simply buy. And she was fairly sure that she hadn't even begun to see through these informations on the surface. Many more secrets were surely piling up underneath.

 _It's time to act. Now or never. I need to keep my wits together and win him over. I've done this before, with other men. I just need to pull it off one more time. Somehow._

She forced herself to slow down her breathing and her eyes sought his. From the little distance that remained between them, she wasn't entirely sure anymore that they really were that cold, but it mattered little and less now that she was making her move, simply because it was unlikely that she would ever get a second chance.

"What do you mean with elevating my position as a trophy? Nothing comes to mind, I'm just a young girl and uneducated in the ways of how life works outside of my home." Her voice was as sweet as honey, because it had to be. And even if it felt like she forced her own eyes to look into his, it was working towards his end, too. From the moment he had laid his eyes on her, she couldn't forget the feeling that they emanated: It wasn't pure, sexual lust. It was more than that. Desire. From the moment he first laid eyes on her, she knew that he didn't just want to possess her body, but wanted her whole. He could have bought another slave or a whore wherever he wanted, but she was fairly sure that his desire towards her went deeper than that. Not love, of course, but despite the fact that he had called her a trophy, his change in body language, in the very least, allowed more conclusions. His voice had grown a little softer, too. Nearly inviting her to come over. And that was what she really wanted. Getting closer to him.

 _Be still, my heart, be still._

Through sheer force of will, she was able to slow down her breathing, the racing of her heart and even the nervous movements of her fingers. They would return soon, she was sure of that, especially when she would be even closer to the blonde man than she was now. Hesitantly, she walked another step towards him and it did surprise him to no end. No matter how he thought this meeting would end up, he didn't expect her to actually try to come closer and for just a single moment, she could see another flash of emotions on his face: Puzzlement. Nami also thought that he had to surpress a smile, but wasn't as sure about that.

 _Now I'm surprised myself. He seems so confident and I bet there are plenty of women flocking to a warlord for an infinite number of reasons. Protection, or maybe they hope to wrestle some power from his hands to get it for their own aims. I don't know. And I don't need to know. Slowly, now. Don't want to startle him and kill me. I wouldn't like that at all._

She was surprised how much she felt at home in that moment. From the second she started to act, there was not much left of the shy and, to be honest, scared young woman that he had captured as his personal spoils of war. Another woman had replaced that girl, a woman who was sure of what she had to offer and even more sure about men dreamt of when they looked at her. She felt her courage growing with every inch of reduced space between them, even felt like it was a little thrilling. Purposefully, she inhaled deeply and bent her back a little backward, letting him see just a little bit more of the trophy he had won by saving her people from Arlong. Her body was still growing, sure, but she definitely knew what she had.

Him swallowing heavily just gave her the last push, as did his now suddenly shaky voice.

"Elevating .. your position .. if you're a good girl, I might choose you for a .. very important task, one that .. hm .. will be a part of mine own and your immortality .."

"I'm fairly sure that you're not talking about building a statue for yourself, captain .." the word 'captain', she whispered in the most seductive voice she could muster, slowly raising her right hand to let the tips of her fingers softly brush over his cheek, striding just past him to let him feel the firmness of her body beneath the shirt she wore. Lowering her hand again, she leaned against the wooden desk and pushed her body up to sit on it. And even though she was wearing a skirt that only barely reached her knees, she didn't even try to cross her legs, keeping them just far enough apart to imply an invite that was enhanced by her playfully shy smile. This time, she raised her left hand and inclined her head to the side, gently tracing the way from her own cheek down to her exposed and flawless neck towards the middle of her bosom.

"We're growing older every day, my captain .. why would one wait just a single day longer to work on immortality?" These words, spoken with a soft yet seductive voice, a shy yet knowing smile and these big, dark eyes that could haunt a man's dreams forever, were the last things necessary to push him. Steadily, he moved toward her, wrapped his arms around her slender waist and moved his hip inbetween her slightly apart legs. In return, her left hand found the way to his cheek again, caressing it with tender touches. For a moment, she was pleasantly surprised that his mouth wasn't as malodorous as one could imagine it from sailors, civilians and soldiers alike. It made it a whole lot easier to allow him to push his lips onto hers .. and thus he stole the first kiss she had ever given to boy or man alike. The blonde man was gentle at first, seemed even a little shy about the kiss as if there wasn't much experience of his own to draw from, but he grew bolder by each passing moment. When he closed his eyes shut and tried to split her lips with his tongue, she gave in to it and inclined her head to the left side, playfully welcoming him with her own. The seconds were drawing on endlessly and after an eternity of their two tongues petting, fondling and caressing each other, she drew back and bit his lower lip in a teasing manner.

That was also the moment in which her right hand finally found the hilft of the paperknife that was lying on the desk and slung her fingers firmly around it. As he seemingly desperately tried to continue their long kiss as if his life was depending on it, she slowly raised her right arm, brushing over one of the arms that were holding her and, within the fraction of a second, began to viciously stab at the left side of his face. Granted, if she had been a more seasoned fighter or killer, she would have rather aimed at his neck, but it had the desired effect nonetheless.

He immediately let go of her and tried to get away, but it was already too late and the was damage done. Her blind stabbing had not only drawn blood, but left his left eye closed and bathed in bright crimson. Another stab that followed went right through his cheek and when she tore the small blade out, she managed to tear the wound open even wider. In that very moment, it didn't matter how well he was trained or how much pain he could ignore when his mind was focused. The pain seemed to daze the man and, when she finally let go of him, he reeled back and stumbled to the ground, pushing his hands on what might as well be half a dozen fresh cuts. If she had paid any attention to it, it would have surprised her that not one sound escaped his lips, but there were more important things to care about right now.

Nami still had the paperknife in her right hand when she stormed out of the cabin and took a turn to the left, the opposite direction of where she was coming from. She didn't, of course, know the ship's layout and would have to be lucky to escape, but it was a chance, after all. Not a carefully planned one, as Nami would've normally preferred it, yet it was some glimmer of hope to cling to. Luckily, the ship's hallways were empty and only the sounds of her quick steps were echoing through them.

 _Run! Just follow the fresh air, please! I need to find a lifeboat, or some other way to escape! Please, please, please! Gods, help me! Help me!_

The young woman was slowly becoming short of breath and when she had to take a turn to the right – to finally escape the ships's belly - her heart stopped as she crashed into someone. Regaining her balance, she jumped back and raised the paperknife in her blood covered right hand. Her eyes widened when she recognised the sinister figure standing in front of her. It was one of the two men who had visited her in the cell, the black-and-white-haired one. _Avian_ , she thought. Even though he didn't try to hurt her back then, things would surely have changed after she attacked his captain. It didn't matter, she would try to fight him and, if she lost, would hope for a quick death and not a return into custody and slavery.

Avian's eyes widened a little when he saw and recognised her, his gaze quickly fell towards her bloody hand and the paperknife that would be utterly useless if not used with the element of surprise. Where once had been a rather distanced, out-of-the-world yet approachable smile, there was a shocked expression in his face, but it quickly changed again. First to bewilderment, as he stepped past her to look into the corridor she was coming from and finally to a stressed kind of alertness when he turned her around to look at him. His voice was faint, yet urging.

"Is he alive?" The question alone baffled her, as did the fact that he wasn't immediately trying to restrain or attack or even kill her. So much indeed that the only thing she managed to do was nod.

In answer, Avian closed his eyes, bared his teeth and began to massage his temples with both hands, while Nami instinctively took a step back. Something was not right with these teeth. They all were longer and sharper than a human's had any right to be and the longer she looked at him, the more she had the feeling that she was staring at a feline predator in human form.

"I need to talk to him, urgently, but with this situation unfolding, I probably have to find Stone first. _Fuck_ ", for a second it seemed as if he was just going to leave her, but he realised it in time and looked back at the still intimidated woman in front of him.

"We've got to do something about you, too. It's a shame that I don't have the time to confer with Stone first." When he shoved his hand into his coat, she was ready to face anything. A gun, a knife, even brass knuckles. What she didn't expect was a compass.

"This won't help you on the Grand Line, but it's perfectly serviceable in the Four Blues. I hope that you're a good swimmer or were born lucky, girl. From the position we're currently in, if you manage to hold course to 225 degrees to the South West, you'll reach the free city of Alaran. I'd give you a lifeboat, but there aren't any on this ship. It's basically up to you if and how you'll be trying to get there, but it's your best shot and the nearest island around these parts. I'd get you there myself, if the situation would allow for it, but there's no time and the situation at hand continues to spiral out of control. He should have never met you, but maybe we can stabilise everything by getting you out of here. Godspeed, Nami. I dearly hope that we'll never meet again."

With these words, he rushed past her, leaving behind a confused mess of a woman, holding a compass and a paperknife in bloodied hands. She forced herself to shake it off when a terribly loud voice resounded within the empty hallways.

" **Prisoner on the run! Find her, bring her to me! Everybody, leave your stations and search for her! I want her alive! I don't care if the ship's dead in the water, BRING! HER! TO! ME!** "

With these words, she was able to break free from the confusion that Avian had left her in and made her way to the stairs. Upwards. Upwards was important. If she reached the weatherdeck, there was a slim chance that she might be able to escape.

 _Or just to throw myself into the waves and drown and die there. I'll never be a slave again, no matter to whom._


	6. Chapter 4

Sorry, this got a little longer than I expected, but I really wanted to include a lot of stuff. Have fun.

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Chapter 4 – Disarray

 _Shame! The shame, I .. what happened? This must be a dream, there's no way for it to be real._

The captain had been hurt before, by a hundred hands and more. First and foremost, his royal father and even his own brothers had beaten him into submission countless times, hours and even days over the span of nearly two decades. His cruel masters-at-arms, the soldiers he was forced to fight as a part of his training regimen and even some foe that possessed a certain mastery at the arts of battle. All of them managed to draw blood from him, but never had there been a woman, a civilian even! And never before had he felt a wound that might very well amount to him being crippled for the rest of his life.

The sight in his left eye was gone for the moment and he felt hot blood trickling down his face. Under different circumstances, he would have been in a considerable amount of pain, but there was no time for it. His pride, though, that one had taken a desastrous hit. Whenever he clashed with an enemy in the past, he used to delve deep the opportunity. When in most cases the young captain was jealous of how effortlessly his siblings were able to put aside their emotions – if they even had any -, he relished in the thrill of battle. No matter if on land or sea, he loved the feeling of his hot blood pumping through his veins, delivering every strike against a worthy opponent with an indisputed intent to kill. In his own mind, he thought of the clashing of steel and the thunderous roaring of cannons as the only instruments required to create a musical work of art.

This time, though, it was of a different nature. With her attack against the young captain and her, for now, successful escape from his clutches, she had seriously damaged a thing that was as frail as it was old and found in many a man's heart: his ego.

Styling himself a warrior, a conquerer and a military commander of ever growing renown throughout the Four Blues, there had never been a foe that managed to wound him as badly as she did, there had never been a foe that got him by surprise such as she did. Many years of training at arms and education in the highest arts of war didn't prepare him for the charms of this beautiful woman and he paid dearly for it. Stone-faced, he pressed a hand on his wounded eye to stop the bleeding, at least for a moment, and raised himself up. There was no need for him to hurry. The woman would still be on his ship and there wasn't a chance in hell that she would be able to escape. Not while they were out on the open sea.

As the first of its kind to brave the seas known to man, the Marauder left its shipyard without any lifeboats on bord. Of course, his royal father and the engineers told the captain that a superior vessel such as this would never need one, but he understood the message without even thinking about the obvious implications. If the young prince were to lose a battle, he and his crew would be forced to go down with the ship, destroying the valuable and highly advanced technology on board for fear that Germa might lose the edge of its military and scientific might to an enemy.

 _Run, girl. Run as fast and as much as you like, you'll never reach a safe harbour without my consent._

The thought alone managed to calm him down a little. If he got his hands on her again, he would exert his revenge. He didn't know which form it might take, but he'd do it and nothing she could do would stop his wrath.

 _Where will you try to go to, little girl? Stone and Avian might have told you that this ship is not in the possession of life boats to persuade you that escape was not possible. Yes, that's a thing these two could have done and with every moment that passes, the idea seems more likely. But when there's no boat to flee to, not that such a small thing would be able to escape my cannons, where would you run to? There's no hiding on this ship, not for the likes of you. That leaves either the booth of the strategoi or the weather deck. But dear, we've taken you hostage and these people are still your enemies, no matter the friendly mask they put on for you. You can't trust them and you know that very well. Will you face the waves and the open sea to escape? I think you will. And even if not, I'll be finding you. And I will make you pay for what you did._

Sanji wasn't exactly calming the thoughts that surrounded his wounded pride, but unleashed the anger that came with it when he finally raised his voice to alarm the ship's crew.

" **Prisoner on the run! Find her, bring her to me! Everybody, leave your stations and search for her! I want her alive! I don't care if the ship's dead in the water, BRING! HER! TO! ME!"**

For a few seconds he just stood there, breathing, trying to hear her steps, follow her way. But these seconds passed as cabin doors were opened and dozens of his men began swarming the metal corridors to do their captain's bidding. His words would spread out in a heartbeat and within just a few minutes, every soldier on the ship would be hot on her tail. Capturing her was inevitable. It didn't matter that she was running around freely, here, out on the cold vastness of the open sea, she was bound to this ship. As he felt the strange machines, those that kept the Marauder travelling over the seas without having to rely on sails, were shutting down one after the other, he even managed a cruel smile – made even more cruel when he discovered the deep gash that went all the way through his cheek - when he looked at himself in the mirror. His left eye might be lost to him, but there were so many things that he would take from her to pay this 'debt'. Sanji, that much he promised to himself, would take his sweet time with her.

He quickly dismissed the thought of bandaging himself, it would take too much time and he really wanted to see the fear in her eyes when she was caught again, thus he simply fastened his trusty rapier to his side and left the cabin, slowly, even casually walking towards the stairs that would lead him towards the weather deck. The woman didn't know what was coming for her, he was sure. Little did he know that other things were on the rise, too, and greater powers than he could even imagine in his disciplined, grounded and military mind. Still bleeding but not paying any mind to it, he left his cabin and began to loosen the rapier in its sheath. This was not about what he was going to do her when they were alone, but taking an eye from a prince meant that she was about to give up a lot more. Before the fun for him even began.

 _Them again. Seems to me that they haven't found her, why are you approaching me?_

Rushing towards him were the two men he slowly began to loathe: his teachers, his advisors, masters-at-arms, the ship's strategoi and his fathers eyes and ears while the big man himself wasn't there to judge him. It irritated him only a little that the both of them didn't seem to notice, and if they did, care, for the grievous wounds he had suffered in the assault. Even he was taken aback when he spread the nasty gash in his cheek to find out that it went all the way through to his mouth.

"Captain! We've got urgent news that you need to attend to right now!" For the first time in many years, the strategoi seemed to be alarmed. Normally, no matter if in a combat situation or within the reach of his ever so wrathful father, they were distanced and calm. They might well hold important informations. But that fact didn't matter to the captain. Not right now. Maybe after he had done everything to regain the honour he lost when he was bested by the woman he took prisoner.

"I don't see the girl. Whatever you have to say, it can't be more important than her. A prisoner is on the run and tried to kill me. The Marauder will not move an inch as long as she's still trying to escape, do we understand each other or shall I have you tried for insubordination right here and now? The decision is yours." Threateningly, he put his right hand on the rapier's hilt, ready to draw and thrust in a single motion, just as learned through many arduous lessons. As far back as he could remember, he never saw these men fight in earnest. And even if they were strong back in the day – there were only a few other reasons his royal father might have recruited them -, they were old now. There would be no competition, just an execution.

For a long, drawn-out second, the strategoi shared glances between themselves and him until finally, they seemed to concede. It worried the captain only a little that they didn't seem to be doing it either out of fear nor respect, but because the quicker he got his way, whatever they deemed important enough to play with the thought of insubordination would find his attention.

 _If it were just for my will, they could both just go to hell. My dreams might not be prophetic, but I know where they're coming from. These men are my father's eyes and ears and they still judge me harshly from what we did at Cocoyasi. I can see it in their eyes, feel it in the way they're behaving. They wen't from personable teachers and guides to distanced and criticle observers. I won't have that. This ship's mine, this journey is mine. My warrior trials. That single great opportunity my father has given me to prove myself._

"Whatever's going through your head, captain, you should have that stitched up", taking a closer look at his face, Sanji thought to sense a bit of unease in the advisor's voice when he continued: "Unfortunately, I fear that your eye might be beyond the medical capabilities of this ship. Keep that in mind, captain, missing one of them will severely impact your ability to fight."

The captain would have been very confused if he just knew how much of an uproar an injury like his would have caused in other, normal and not heavily militarised parts of this world. But alas, he didn't know and probably wouldn't have cared much about the ordeal even if he did. His father, his siblings and the many teachers he had never grew tired of telling him that any injury he got in service to the crown of Germa was worth much more than any medal out of gold or diamonds in this world.

 _You are not judged by your medals or diploma, boy, you're judged by your scars. Your worth to the kingdom depends on how much blood you've shed in its service. Each day, every day. Wake up and your first thought has to be about the good of the kingdom, thank the kingdom for the good it has done to you, thank the heavens for having been born into the Vinsmoke family, make sure that your day's last thought is about how you can serve Germa better. Always the same for so many years. Father, I hope that you'll see the badge of honour I wear upon my face. And the only thing I had to pay for it was my left eye._

"Captain, is everything alright?"

The question baffled him. He was lost in thought, yes, but only for a second. Why were the strategoi helping him to stand straight? And why, in the name of all the gods in heaven, was he feeling lightheaded? Or could it be that the heavy loss of blood finally took its toll on him?

 _They'd laugh at me! Laugh at how I'm not nearly as strong and resilient as them!_

Yet before he could finish the thought, the vision of his remaining eye was engulfed by blackness and, even though with the few conscious thoughts he was still able to make, didn't want to, he had to lean on the two men he slowly came to regard as enemies to his ascension into being a complete Vinsmoke.

"We should really get you into the medbay, captain. For your own good. You wouldn't last five minutes in a serious fight." Stone's voice was barely a whisper and for an instance, Sanji thought that this might be the case so that neither the crew nor uninvited ears could hear about his momentary weakness. The crew was conditioned to be loyal to him, but they were also impressionable with authority and outward strength and one could never be too careful. In that single moment he might have acted reasonable. Forgotten about the girl and let the crew deal with it. She was just a single woman and his wounds really needed tending. It was then that he heard footsteps echoing through the halls, quickly approaching their position. Without a second thought to it, he forced himself to stand without the strategoi's help by sheer willpower. No matter what happened, he wouldn't have anyone but them witness how weak he was.

"Captain! Captain! The prisoner has been located, she nearly reached the weather deck, but the soldiers couldn't get a hold of her!"

That was everything and more that he needed to hear. The medbay was forgotten and he forced himself to start the long walk to the uppermost deck of the ship. She wouldn't escape him and he would have her pay for what she did to him.

"Sir, there's urgent .." but he didn't listen to the crewman anymore. As long as his legs were carrying him, he had to get a hold of her. Of course, the crew would do the job just as well, even without his help. Yet he wanted her to look him in the eye and fear what was coming for her. That was the least that he could be doing for her. So focused on this aim was he that he didn't realise that Avian and Stone were following him, but again, he wouldn't have cared anyway.

By chance or force of will alone, he made it to the weather deck were a couple of crewmen were already waiting for him. Nami herself was cornered by them and faced a dozen rifles, yet there was no danger of her actually being shot. The captain's order was clear enough, she was to be brought back to him alive, all the better if it was himself who was dragging her back into the belly of the giant ship.

Out of all the guns and grim, masked men the girl faced, her gaze was fixated on him. Her capturer, jailer and, probably, executioner all in one person. The young woman was staring at him with the same mixture of rage, fear and desperation that could also be found within the eyes of a cornered, feral animal. Yet he knew that it wasn't exactly like that. A feral animal wouldn't have the wits to work out a plan like she had, trying to gain his trust before turning on him. Aggressive animals were straightforward creatures, they would either flee or attack and try to kill. Humans were a different breed, one that could – at least in some cases – not be read as easily.

"Your selfish rampage is at an end here, girl" he spoke, baring his rapier, casually admiring the rays of the sun that were reflected by the slender blade and his thoughts filled with revenge and revenge alone. It wasn't the eye she had taken from him, but something much more important: his pride as a son of a royal, warlike family. Not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a situation in which a woman of simple birth got the better of him, not even in his weirdest fantasies could he have seen himself on the ground, bleeding, whilst a woman got away unscathed. A situation like that was simply unfathomable for the likes of him, to whom the only woman he ever knew with some shred of strength and courage was his sister. All the others that he grew up with, maids, cooks and the like, were nothing to him but servants and – at times – handy sources of quick satisfaction.

 _Will you throw your life away, girl? Will you take the leap of faith and get crushed by the waves against the hulls of my mighty vessel? What's it going to be? Is your freedom really worth so much more than the .. chance of seeing your loved ones again? I don't think so. You don't seem like the type of person that possesses the bravery of fleeing dishonour by suicide. You don't have the guts, girl, I can only imagine a single woman in the world who might have them, and it's not you._

"I will show you mercy if you surrender now, woman, I swear it by my honour as this ship's captain. You will do penance for attacking me, but your life will be spared. What is your answer?"

Instead of replying, she continued to stare at him, leaning her upper body against the railing. For a long time, no one was moving and it was difficult for him to even hear someone breathing, even the waves were silent and – with all the ship's personnel ordered to find her – not even the strange and unique machines that helped the Marauder to brave the seas were making a noise. Just as Sanji had said it, the ship was now dead in the water, but to him, it didn't matter. The situation was so tense that one could have cut it with a knife but when Nami finally answered him and shattered the overwhelming silence, her voice was coarse, her words harsh and full of conviction.

"I've no use for whatever it is that a warlord like yourself understands for mercy. The impact or the waves alone my crush my body, salty water my fill my lungs and drown me 'til I'm dead, but I still regard it as a more honest, a higher form of mercy than being your slave. The fishmen took away my freedom for all my life and you just bought it from them with blood, but I choose to die as a free woman." And just before she threw herself off the ship, her teary brown eyes shined with renewed resolve.

"Whatever Hell it is that's coming for you, captain, you deserve it doubly." Thus, she threw her body off the Marauder into the waves, awaiting to be crushed, to drown, to simply die and be free from the yoke that so many people had tried to force on her.

Everyone on deck seemed to be waiting for her final cry, or at least for the sound of her body getting smashed against the water's surface. What came instead surprised many people, but no one so much as the captain who didn't have the patience to listen to everything his subordinates had to say, as long as it was not connected with the prisoner-situation at hand.

" **OUCH!** " That was definitely not her voice nor something a person would say – or cry, for that matter – whose body was broken by the impact on a hard surface. The captain reacted at once, rushing towards the railing with Stone and Avian behind, followed by other members of the crew. The sight they beheld was as confusing and surprising as they could imagine.

There was another ship! Right next to them, but much, much smaller. It wasn't a battleship for it displayed only a single cannon at the front and to each side a single one. In all earnesty it could hardly be counted seaworthy when one remembered how unpredictable and harsh the Grand Line could be. Yet there it was, proudly floating next to the Marauder, displaying ...

 _A Jolly Roger?! I thought that our encounters with these bottomfeeding pirates in East Blue came to an end when we annihilated the fishmen. Well, once I have the woman back, they'll be a welcome target practice._

Sanji didn't pay their strawhat-wearing Jolly Roger any more mind as his remaining eye began the search for Nami, presumably lifelessly floating in the water, but his prediction couldn't have been farther from the truth.

"ARE YOU MAD, WOMAN?!" The angry man was shouting at Nami who, by chance alone, seemed to have landed on him during her fall. Surprisingly enough, he seemed to be neither dead nor unconscious from this abuse, and it was quite a long fall from the Marauder onto the other ship. Sanji instantly recognised that he wasn't the only person on board. Two others rushed to his aid, laughing at the occurence and paying no mind to the massive battlecruiser that was swimming right next to them. The angry man – who, as Sanji slightly puzzled noted, had green hair – continued his shouting, but this time it wasn't directed at poor Nami.

"USOPP, WHAT THE HELL! WHERE ARE WE THAT IT'S RAINING CHICKS?!"

Sanji, trained as he was, didn't waste more time watching them, instead he turned around to one of the soldiers standing next to him, whispering.

"Bring the snipers. I still want the girl alive, if possible." With a simple nod, the soldier quickly moved away from the railing to deliver the captain's order. Sanji didn't pay attention to the fact that the ship, right as everyone had left their stations, was still neither moving nor were the cannons manned. Not caring about that fact wasn't entirely without reason, though, as nothing and no one they could ever encounter in the East Blue would be suicidal enough to attack this apex predator among warships. Even a man without knowledge of ships would not be dumb enough to not see the many, many banks of cannons and the hull made of black steel, even some marine gloryhound would think twice about even coming near them.

"Wow, were did you come from?! Did a giant catapult threw you into the air?!" Another voice, another person for Sanji to take a mental note of. Clad in blue pants with a red vest covering most of his upper body but his slender arms and wearing a strawhat, he was neither intimidating nor did he look like a pirate.

 _Come to think of it, none of them does. They're just kids, playing to be. I should rid the waves of their presence, but not as long as I have a chance to get the girl. Perhaps .. it might be easier to just tell them to return her._

"You pirates down there!" The shouting seemed to be a bad idea as his already weakened body reacted to it, he even had to put his free hand on the railing lest he might have lost his balance. Even the vision of his remaining eye blurred for just a second, long enough to let him know that he was far from peak physical condition. On the other hand, these men were pirates of no name, no one cared about them for good reason. If they fought back, he would crush them beneath the heel of his raid suit and blow their ship to smithereens.

"Holy shit, that's some large ship!" The three men seemed utterly surprised that they weren't alone anymore, being so oblivious to their surroundings that even a colossal vessel such as this didn't alarm them.

 _They're bloody idiots. Weak and dumb, it's no surprise that they've chosen the weakest of all Blues to play their pirate game._

"Hey there! We're looking to recruit a cook and a navigator, do you have any to spare?"

The question baffled him. There was absolutely no awe or respect in the strawhat's voice or face, it was as if he just chose to ignore the warship and the whole crew that was lined up along the railing to follow his own agenda.

 _The impudence! It will be my gift to the whole world that I free it from the likes of them._

"Maybe we can talk about it later, but first you have something that belongs to me. Give it back and we'll point you in the direction of the free city of Alaran, your chances of finding both cooks and navigators are quite high there."

 _And as soon as they turn around towards Alaran, I'll blow them out of the sea. No one will miss them._

"What could we possibly have that belongs to you?!" This time it wasn't the strawhat that answered, but the green haired man that Nami had abused as a landing platform. Now that he was standing and looking up to them, Sanji realised that he carried three swords at his hip.

 _Is he trying to look intimidating? What a bunch of clowns. They should show me more respect, the next time he spewers an insult at me, I'll have his tongue._

"The woman. She's mine. Return her to me and we'll let you go in peace, I'll even give you the directions towards Alaran and some provisions that we might be able to spare."

Now the three of them were looking up at him, only Nami herself couldn't stand to face him any longer, or the most likely implications of things that were about to happen to her. These three men, with the sole exception of the green haired one, didn't seem like warriors at all, and even if they were, they'd not be insane enough to engage in such an incredible uphill battle. In her desperation, she grabbed the captain's hands who didn't even look at her. Instead, some form of crazy resolve flashed in his eyes.

"Please, help me! He's a slaver and a warlord, an enemy of the common people and human decency! The whole belly of his ship is filled with fishmen he'll sell into slavery! Please, captain, don't let me end up like one of them!"

Sanji heard the words clearly, but still knew himself in an advantageous position.

"Stop trying to force your battles onto other people, woman. Can't you see that it's over? Now, come back up here and we'll have a long talk."

So consuming was his intent to get her back that he simply ignored Stone's whispering in his ear.

"Captain, we've got a problem of more importance than her on the horizon. Please, tell the crew to get back to their posts, we need both the cannons manned and be in a position to maneuvre. I've been told that we've received an urgent call to our secured frequency."

"If you want her back, come down and try to get her!"

A long silence followed these words, shouted at him much so much rage and blistering defiance that it seemed like a bad joke to Sanji. They were four against the most advanced battleship on the sea, against more than 200 disciplined soldiers, against countless cannons and an engine so strange and technologically sophisticated that King Judge would rather have the ship destroyed and all of its crew, including his own thirdborn son dead than to let it fall into enemy hands. Yet he still stood there, defiant to the end, to a fault, not willing to give up a woman of no value to him to save himself, his small crew and his ship.

 _I'll have his head for this affront._

"Snipers, cover me. Don't hit the girl."

Sanji did his best to appear cold and calculating and disciplined, but an unrelenting rage was building up inside of him. Being insulted was one thing he grew up with. His siblings, his father, even some of his teachers would always tell him that he just wasn't good enough. But he would never take such a slight, such plain disrespect from a run of the mill pirate from the East Blue. Some words could only be paid with blood, and he was going to have this pirate's. Leaping down to the other ship, he put his fingers firmly around the hilt of his rapier and, while another man might have been hurt from the height alone, he didn't have to care about it. The raid suit, even if it wasn't a customised one as the ones his siblings and his father wore, absorbed the shock of the impact with ease. Even without the riflemen on top, this wouldn't even take a minute.

"Luffy, no! We don't have the slightest chance against them!" The brownhaired man that was speaking had a very distinct nose, but was otherwise as unlikely as a pirate as the strawhat, and he didn't even carry a weapon.

 _Thirty seconds for all of them, and that's only because I'm not in my peak condition. Woman, you will pay for this._

"He's right, Luffy. This is not our fight .. but I can't bring myself to fight the urge to cut the pretty boy apart." With these words, the green haired one drew his swords. To Sanji's surprise, all three of them. One in each hand and one in his mouth. He would meet him first, show the superiority of his skill and strength and kill the strawhat after. He, too, seemed unarmed. What did these people expect, becoming pirates with only one of them having access to weapons?

"You'll regret your insolence, boy. And you will remember to not steal from me in the future." With these words, the two men engaged each other in a fierce battle. Much fiercer, in fact, than Sanji would have expected in his wildest dreams.

No matter how fast his slender blade was, one of the pirate's swords was already there for a parry, a deflect or a simple block, no matter how much fury and strength he put into his attacks. Sanji just couldn't understand what was going on. His training and the condition of his body should have given him a huge edge over the abilities of some pirate from the East Blue, and if that wasn't enough, the additional strength that his raid suit granted him should have been more than enough. But it wasn't, with every further slash, every thrust, the motors that powered his exoskeleton were aching a little more. To further worsen the situation, he had by now realised that not having two eyes put him at a severe disadvantage and only his more-than-human reflexes made him able to dodge the pirate's attacks. This wasn't a game anymore, but he had more aces up his sleeves than they could even think of.

After they clashed another time, he simply shouted "FIRE" to the snipers above and they complied. A dozen rifles were aimed at the pirates on their small ship and unloaded within the blink of an eye. He hadn't taken the strawhat into account, or any abilities he might possess.

Even faster than the bullets finding their targets, the man inflated himself to a comically huge size, throwing his body in front of the two fighting men, catching all fired bullets on their way down and, to Sanji's astonishment, reflected them right back at his crew. Most of them were quick enough to duck for cover, but a few ricocheted and found exposed arms or legs. The astonishment didn't last for long, though, as he still had to fight off the swordsman, a task which by now seemed nearly impossible in his current state. As soon as the green haired man realised that there simply wasn't more strength and speed that Sanji could pour into his attacks, he went on the offensive himself, surrounded by a flurry of blades that pushed Sanji's own swordsmanship to unknown heights, just to get away unscathed. He had to do something, and quickly.

The next time the two of them clashed, he further strained his own and his raid suits reserves, blocking two swords onehanded while he kept pushing, locking these swords thus with his own. The left hand, though, he balled into a fist and this time, the swordsman wasn't quick enough to react, only considering the captain's own blade as a threat. The moment his left fist connected with greenhair's face, the raid suit unleashed a sizeable amount of sizzling electric energy that sent the swordsman stumbling back, momentary disoriented, but still conscious. A lesser man would have been knocked out the moment Sanji's strike connected, let alone the electricity it released upon impact. The Marauder's captain couldn't help but feel a grudging respect for the swordsman, but that wouldn't stop him from delivering the coup de grâce.

The green haired swordsman was wide open, still dizzy from the surprise attack and would in no way be quick enough to defend himself. Sanji set out to thrust the long blade of his rapier right through his heart, carried by his own muscles as much as by the raid suits powered exoskeleton.

But his foe was saved. Nearly too quick for even Sanji's trained eye to see, the strawhat entered to fray to protect his crewmate, smashing aside the long blade with one hand and viciously attacking the blonde's face with the other, relentlessly hammering his protective left arm to the side until he struck home.

Through the mighty impact of the strawhat's fist, Sanji was stumbling back. The wounds that Nami had given him were – thanks to his father's prenatal work – not bleeding anymore, but the strikes opened them up again and he could feel hot blood dripping down his face. His opportunity to kill one opponent was gone in an instant and if the strawhat was even nearly as strong as the swordsman, he was in for another problem.

"Shoot the swordsman! Leave the other to me, your bullets will do no good against him" Sanji was shouting at the top of his lungs. The urgency of this situation came crashing back into his mind when he coldly realised that his body was giving up on him. During the former clash, it held itself together well enough, but he was fighting on borrowed time. Worse still was the fact that his reckless usage of the suits energy reserves were already taking a toll on its efficiency. Fighting greenhair took a lot more out of him than he cared to admit.

The snipers were taking aim again, but before even one of them could lose a single bullet, they had to take cover again as a barrage of exploding projectiles was fired against them, by a single person nonetheless. Both the speed and accuracy of these shots was astounding and one by one, the snipers fell to the unlikely shooter. Sweating profusely and with the look of utter desperation and fear upon his face, the brown haired man with the long nose had still bested a dozen trained snipers of Sanji's crew. The longer this situation went on, the worse it got.

 _Can't even blow them out of the sea because the cannons are neither manned nor loaded. This is a problem._

It was a bigger problem still that the strawhat man in front of him seemed to be the swordman's equal in both strength and speed, and what he lacked for in steel he made up with creative usage of his devil fruit, attacking Sanji with delayed attacks, dodging his slashes and thrusts as if his body had no solid bones in it and, on top of that, being blessed with a superhuman stamina.

 _My lungs and heart will burst before I'll get the opportunity to tire him out and run him through. This is bad._

Even the swordsman was back in shape again. He still looked a bit confused by the sudden electric shock, but Sanji could clearly feel the killing intent he was radiating. It did surprise him a little that he didn't immediately enter the fight again, turning it into a two versus one situation, but the relief was short-lived as he still had no outs against the rubberman. He was, though, fairly sure that he could win a fight under optimal conditions, both regarding himself and the reserves of his raid suit.

 _How much longer will you be able to go on?_

The energy storage was far from infinite and a fight such as this made it just plain worse, possible ways out of this situation became fewer by the second. He met the next of the rubberman's onslaught in kind, trading hits, slashes and punches with him and quickly came to the conclusion that he couldn't best his foe's condition in the long run. Not without a little chemical help. When the two were seperated once again, Sanji was breathing heavily, all of his wounds had opened up again and he was sure that, if he continued to recklessly overexploit his raid suit, it would give up soon enough and leave him with his pants dropped.

 _I'll teach you a lesson about Germa's scientific might, pirates._

He shoved his left hand into one of the suits hidden pockets and produced a pill from it. Without thinking about any longterm consequences, he chugged it down without a problem, even though his mouth was dry as the Alabasta desert. It would take roughly half a minute for the pill to take effect, a time he wasn't sure he could survive fighting against the rubberman.

"Why is greenhairs holding back? I'll take the both of you, if you dare. Right here, right now. I was holding back long enough, pirate scum!" The strawhat didn't seem to be too impressed by his words, but exchanged a glance with his crewmate, who was patiently waiting behind, but looked every inch as ready to fight as he had before he got shocked. Again, Sanji was impressed by his resilience, but it wouldn't help him much when he finally was in shape.

"Come on, swordsman. Where's your reason to be scared? Your style is selftaught, I assume, but you're not half bad. If you somehow manage to survive our encounter, I can see that you'll be someone, some day in the future. Come at me, the both of you! I'll teach you not to cross me again! There's still a lot of things I want to do today, right, Nami? We have so much to tell each other.."

During the fighting, he had all but forgotten the woman, but now that he cheated himself into a moment of respite, she was on his mind once again, hiding behind the slender body of the longnose, whispering to him. She didn't even react to his provocation but grabbed the brown-haired man by the shoulders and dragged him away from the deck.

 _You won't escape me, girl. Why are you even trying? These people will die for your insolence, will you be able to live with that burden? I'll wait and see._

The time had come for him to go all out. He was feeling better already, the combat drug he had taken took care of the bleeding and numbed the pain, but that effect was just secondary. He took a deep breath, felt his heart beating faster and his blood rushing wildy through his veins. He felt strong again, faster, his perception was altered to be more precise, quicker, more in-depth of his foe's movements. It was as if he could read everything his opponents wanted to do from a single twitch of their muscles. To Sanji it didn't feel like time was slowing down, but that his mind was simply working a lot faster, giving him ages to decide what to do while the hysterical strength of his own body could be unleashed at any second and without hesitation. The repercussions of using this drug were enormous, but this was neither the time nor the place to care about that.

Without losing another word, Sanji went on the attack. Straight past the rubberman he went for the swordsman. He was definitely ready for the attack, but could barely handle the sudden surge of power that raged through Sanji's veins. The number of his attacks alone was doubled, and yet every single one went for the kill, filled to the brim with strength and anger, greenhair's swords were brushed aside by the Vinsmoke's slender blade and within just a second, he finally drew blood from his opponent. His arms were coloured red by now, his white shirt doing the same. Neither Sanji's thrusts nor slashes were enough to take the kill, but for the first time since the fighting started, he felt superior to his foes. The swordman's comrade was quick to enter the fray beside him, taking the bulk of a renewed onslaught on himself and paid dearly for it.

Punching the strawhat was useless, that much Sanji was sure of, but he could still use his left hand for distractions and with his sharpened senses and the hysterical strength that raged through his body, he was not only quick and strong enough to get attacks past the rubberman's defenses, but to exactly read to where he would evade his strikes, not even taking a quarter of a second to alternate his attacks.

Not even half a minute later, the tides seemed to have turned. Without the ability to rely on their own strength and reflexes to fight Sanji, both the pirates were pressed into defensive actions only. But the captain had to take into consideration that his boost wouldn't last forever. The candle that burned twice as bright was only burning for half as long.

All of them were breathing heavily now, all of them were bleeding from dozens and dozens of fresh wounds. Even Sanji, with all the advantages at his side, had taken a few more slashes and point blank hits from the pirates, usually in order to trade in his various slashes and stabs. The drug prevented him from feeling the pain, but he knew that some of his bones were broken and that he was losing a lot of blood. The other two must have been feeling alike as they were preparing for a joint attack, one being able to decide the whole battle.

 _Let's finish this dance, pirate scum._

Yet before they could start the final act of their battle, a ladder was thrown down from the Marauder, accompanied by both Avian and Stone leaping down from the weather deck to stand inbetween their captain and the pirates. None of them was armed and both wore their usual suits instead of armour, but something about their presence halted the fighting spirits of both sides. Their words were addressing Sanji alone, yet they didn't feel it necessary to whisper.

"Captain, you need to return to the ship right now. Leave these pirates be, at least for this moment in time. A storm is approaching. They're hailing us through the secured lines. You need to answer at once." Stone raised his arm and pointed into the direction behind Sanji and the moment he turned around, his heart stood still.

 _This cannot be. They shouldn't be here. Not here. Not in the East Blue. Not everywhere in the Four Blues._

Within a moment's notice, the captain lowered his rapier and sheathed it. After all the blood and the fighting, something hit the stage that even he considered more important than the girl and the slight to his honour.

"The next time I'll see you, pirate scum, it'll be your end." With these words, he grabbed onto the ladder and climbed back up to his ship, closely followed by Stone. Avian, though, remained for a few more seconds, facing the strawhat and his swordsman.

"Tell her that if she's intent on reaching Alaran, she should make haste. War is coming for the city."

With these words, he finally held on to the ladder and was pulled back up with it, shooting a final glance on what or who was approaching.

The same proudly displayed Jolly Roger adorned the three ships: a horned skull in front of eight bones.

The beasts had come.


	7. Interludes 2

It's not my best chapter and writing, but I do hope that you can enjoy it anyway. It was harder than usual for me to write things up because I wasn't terribly excited for this part of the story, but it sets things up for the great bang, so I've got that going for me, eh?

* * *

Interludes II – Meetings

 _This is not over. I can feel that it wasn't the last time that we've met. Gotta stay on the run, girl. At least it's a moment the breathe._

She wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Her saviours, sans the sniper, were wounded pretty badly but didn't seem to mind. Might have been that they already have been through worse, nonetheless she did what she could to care for their wounds. Luckily, none of them had been lethal or even outside of the range of what could be done with simple bandages and strong alcohol.

"Thank you", she muttered while she was working on the gashes the greenhaired swordsman had suffered.

"Huh? Didn't do it for you, I just couldn't let the pretty boy go unscathed."

That was supposedly good enough, at least for now. In the very least they didn't seem to hold on to any grudge towards her.

"The guy was really strong, did you see that? Zoro?" For now she had gathered that the strawhat was the ship's captain, his name being Monkey D. Luffy.

"He was not a wimp, I'll admit that. But I still can't understand where his renewed energy came from after you've given him a beating. Blondie didn't seem like the kind of guy to get new strength through rage."

"I'm just happy that we got away!" Longnose was speaking now, of him, she only knew his first name: Usopp. His words marked a truth that, at least it felt like it to Nami, only she and him were realising. Under different circumstances, even if they managed to throw the warlord off of their ship, his own terrifying warship would have blown them out of existence.

 _Roronoa Zoro, I think I've heard of that one. Wasn't he a bounty hunter? And now he's traveling with pirates. Destiny likes to play its games on us, I assume._

"Personally, I'm interested about his buddies. Don't tell me you didn't feel it too, Luffy. Even though I wanted to cut him apart and would've rushed through them to get to him, there was something that stopped me. Something about them, a weird kind of presence that just didn't allow me to attack them."

Yet his captain didn't deem it necessary to answer his question. After his wounds had been taken care of, he instantly went through some of the barrells to find food of any kind, mostly meat and salted fish which he ate in a gluttonous manner. Sighing, the swordsman turned his head back to Nami who was just finishing his treatment.

"Nami, right? Forgot to mention it, but one of pretty boy's buddies – the one with the skunk hair – said something along the lines that if you wanted to reach Alaran, you should make haste."

"I heard there's a lot of food in Alaran!"

"You hear that about a lot of places, Luffy!"

Nami didn't care about the friendly argument the captain and Usopp engaged in, only the words that Zoro spoke remained on her mind.

 _Alaran. I need to get to Alaran to find passage home._

"I've heard that, too, Usopp. Alaran is incredibly wealthy and they have all kinds of foods from all over the world. And didn't you say that you're looking for a cook and a navigator? The city is the best place to find them and, coincidentally, I know exactly how to get us there in no time!"

Zoro was raising a brow, but his captain seemed to be sold on the idea of finding food from all over the world in a single city.

"Skunk-hairs also said that there's war coming for the city, Nami. Didn't you know that?"

 _Yes, they've told me about the war. They've told me about a lot of things, but Alaran is the only nearby harbour that I have hopes with to get home. I need to get there, and soon._

"Can't remember them saying anything about a war, but even so, how likely is it that it's going to start within a day? Come on, there would be marines and mercenaries and soldiers all over the place. In a month? Sure, maybe, but right now I don't think there's anything we have to worry about", she tried to remember what Avian told her during her escape, pulling the compass he had given her out of her pocket.

"We could be there in less than a day, trust me. I'll get you there, you'll be able to find food and a cook and even a navigator and we can part ways again. It just sounds like the best possible solution for all of our problems."

Only a second later, Luffy was at her side, smiling broadly. "What's your problem, Nami? Do you need food from Alaran, too?"

 _That's none of your damn business._

These pirates were friendly enough, that much she admitted to herself, they even fought for her instead of just turning her over to the warlord, but there was a limit of how much she would allow herself to owe to them. Even if they were not talking about it, the topic would come up sooner rather than later. They saved her, she owed them. Anything, money, food, guidance, maybe the captain would even want to recruit her to his crew. That was a risk she was not willing to take. As long as she managed to paint the free city as the solution to all of their problems, it wouldn't be that much of a problem to just tag along.

"Nothing special, actually. It's just the nearest city. You could simply drop me off at the harbour and we'll handle our own affairs, and in return for taking me with you, I'll get us there as fast as I can. Doesn't that sound good to you?"

Before the captain could answer, the swordsman took the opportunity.

"It's good enough for now, Luffy. If she really gets us there in time, we should accept the offer."

A few nautical miles away, the situation wasn't nearly as casual and friendly as on the Flying Lamb.

"What the hell are they doing here?!"

Sanji grew weaker by the minute, the effects of the combat drug he had taken were in rapid decline and his body was fighting to keep the repercussions in check. Would it not be for the prenatal changes his father had undertaken, he might as well have died now. Wounds were beginning to bleed again, not only in his face, but all over his body and moment by moment, the pain grew ever larger. Fractured and broken bones began to hurt again, the blood loss he had suffered took its toll on him and made it difficult to even stand. Worse still was the fact that his raid suit had run out of power and was just dead weight on him now, from the supporting exoskeleton to the reinforced cloak and all the hidden weapons it offered.

"Most likely because they're bound for Alaran, captain." Stone and Avian were at his sides, supporting him on his way to the medbay.

 _How does he know who we are? How does he know our secured frequencies? Too many questions, too little time._

"Whatever business they have with Alaran, there's no reason for them to hail us. How do they even know who we are?!" He bit his tongue to drown out the pain.

"Even, and that's a rather huge 'even', if they don't know who we are, you mustn't forget that you don't become an Emperor without knowing as much as you can about your potential enemies, captain. They know that we're not part of the marines and they have eyes. The Marauder is the first of it's kind to hit the open sea and it's understandable that the Beasts want to know more about it or about whoever boards it."

The situation was getting out of hand really quick. Just a few days ago, he sank a marine vessel in the blink of an eye, liberated an island from a fishman pirate turned tyrant and now he felt like he was dying and an unknown threat hit the stage without him knowing a single thing about the who's and why's of this whole mess.

"What's your assessment? Avian, Stone?"

For a few more seconds, they remained silent, simply sharing glances between themselves and him. Finally arriving at the medbay, the treatment immediately began. His wounds were tended to quickly and professionally by the ship's doctor and he received several injections that would both ease his pain and stabilise his overall condition.

"You're correct with them having no right to be here, captain", Avian began while assisting the ship's doctor with bandaging Sanji.

"Alaran is proud of being independent, it's likely that the Beasts have tried to bring them to heel in the past. Imagine that: a foothold right in the heart of the East Blue, grown fat from trade and fishing, defying the local aristocracy and the marines alike. It's quite likely that they did something in the past that offended one of the Beasts. Or someone who wasn't a Beast back then, using his newfound influence to avenge a slight to his honour." Stone lighted two cigarettes, giving one to his colleague.

"Do you think that the city has any chance in hell to repel an attack?" Slowly but surely, he was feeling better. The injections helped a lot to keep him together, but deep inside he knew that if he had to use another boost-pill without giving his body at least two weeks to rest and regenerate, he would die from it. Unloved and unsung, in the middle of the vast emptiness that the East Blue was.

"No" they said in unison.

"That's three damn ships full of Beasts, not even if they had all the marines and pirates and mercs in all of East Blue at their side, they'd be able to win that. Even the Marauder wouldn't make a difference, captain. Sure, the ship's better than anything that they likely have to offer, but these pirates didn't grow strong from technology and better ships. They're strong because every single member of their crew is a force to be reckoned with, this is all that counts for them. Strength." Stone crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes, frantically drawing the smoke into his lungs.

"My colleague is right, captain. And even if the Marauder could change the winds of war, what good would it do to you? Worse even if the Beasts know who we are. Your royal father would be wroth about you starting a war with one of the mightiest beings on the whole world, your home would suffer for it, countless would die. For nothing. My advice is that you hear them out and we'll leave this part of the world for good."

"Talking about hearing them out, captain, are you ready to receive the call?"

 _No, I'm not damned ready to receive the call! But what else can I do?_

"If it needs be done, yes." By now he was able to walk without the help of the strategoi, the medicine they had given him was able to counteract the worst aftereffects of taking the drug, but he didn't know how long he'd be able to parlay from a position of strength and confidence. For the past days he had grown weary of both Stone and Avian, but he knew their words about the pirates to be true. Kaido of the Beasts, people called him, whispering his name in fear and sometimes reverence. As far as Sanji knew, he was the current de facto ruler of Wano Country. _If the informations were still current_ , he added for himself. Of course, Kaido wasn't the official ruler of this land, but from everything he had heard, the Shogun auf Wano – _some guy called something-something Orochi_ – was as incompetent a statesman as he was cruel to his subjects.

 _It wouldn't matter if he only ruled over a pile of rock and wood. If the Yonko's reputation is to be believed, he's immortal. Unkillable. Undying. The Grand Line has pirates in it who ate devil fruits, giving them the power to transform into an element or beasts of a mythical variety, but even they can be killed. I wonder if he's a god or something very close to it._

The pain was still there, not even all the injections that were pumped into him were able to numb it completely. The combat drug – Second Wind, as the crewmen and even some scientists that worked on it were calling it – was a last straw. If a normal human swallowed the pill, he'd feel like a god or an avenging angel for roughly five minutes, hot blood rushing through his body as if it was divine fury, taking away his fear and – that was the important part – the barriers the body put up to protect itself from itself. Without these boundaries, the user was able to use all the hysterical strength that his muscles were theoretically able to provide at his own command, burning out in the process. When these few minutes passed, their organs would either quickly shut down or simply burst as it had happened countless times during the testing phase, even the few survivors would have to live with permanent damage to their bodies. But there were always more soldiers to test it on. Only Sanji's augmented physique allowed him to survive it, yet he still suffered badly.

The second the captain and his strategoi left the medbay, a shock went through much of the ship, forcing him to hold onto the walls to avoid falling to the ground.

"Are we under attack?!" He shouted to no one specifically, knowing very well that the two men who were with him wouldn't know the answer either.

"Didn't sound like the impact of a cannonball, captain, but whatever it was, it came from the weather deck." Sanji was astounded by Stone's composure. As far as he personally tried to drown out his emotions, being attacked with their pants down and without the cannons manned felt terrible to him. If this was a coordinated ambush, the Marauder could take heavy damage from it.

"May I suggest that we investigate further? I'm not feeling comfortable with being this passive." Avian let his knuckles crack, as if he was expecting something very specific. And if he was, he was proven right just a minute later while they were on their way. A masked soldier came running towards them, sweating and out of breath.

"Captain, they landed on the deck! One of them said that they're here to parley, what are your orders? Shall I tell the crew to arm themselves?"

 _What?! That was too quick. No boat is that quick, and they can't be right next to us. I hoped that we could exchange words on my terms, but now they are enforcing their own. If it's Kaido, I can't tell him to leave the ship, but what can I tell him, anyway? How much does he know, if anything? In a battle at sea, we might have been able to sink them and flee, but if they're already here, that's not an option anymore. If Stone and Avian can be believed regarding their strength, that is._

"Yes, tell everyone to gear up, man the cannons and get us ready to hit the sea again, but don't do anything until you have further orders or, in the case of my death, until they made clear their hostility towards us." He swallowed heavily and played the scenario through his mind again and again and even forgot the pain while doing it.

 _The Beasts are here, they're strong and I'm in no condition to fight, if all else fails, I need to follow my orders._

"In the case of my death, execute the Omega protocol without a countdown."

The soldier simply nodded, facing the implications that this action brought with it without a single shred of fear or doubt.

"With pleasure, captain. Good luck", then he quickly went on to fulfill his tasks. Sanji looked at his strategoi to watch their reaction to his orders, but there was none. As much as he considered both of these a liability when it came to building a reputation for himself, they were still soldiers employed by his father. One of the few these days, as he recounted, the only people that came from outside of Germa kingdom were scientists and the like.

"It's the right call, captain. Under these circumstances we wouldn't stand a chance at repelling them." Sanji was surprised that the men finally endorsed one of his orders. Earlier during their journey, they would just silently stand on the sidelines, delivering their reports to his father and say nothing, but everything changed after the battle at Cocoyasi.

"Let's go, captain. If death is indeed around the corner, it would be rude to let him wait."

They were a sight to behold.

Whatever else the prince had on his mind during their way to the weather deck, it was washed away by the impact of their unwelcome visitors. There were only two of them, but even with all his armed soldiers at his back, Sanji felt as if he was on the backfoot from the get go, their mere presence intimidating, threatening, armoured in an aura of invincibility.

 _They might very well live up to their reputation, after all._

It came as a relief to him that, at least, they were not Kaido. The first one who caught his glance looked a warrior through and through: broad shoulders, packed with possible and impossible muscles while retaining a lean appearance, he was every inch a fighter to be reckoned with. The captain could already imagine that his fighting style would strike a perfect balance between swiftness and strength, unleashing an unrelenting onslaught that only few could even survive. His hair was long, wild and of golden colour, brighter even than Sanji's own, on his mighty shoulders he wore the pelt of a rare beast, a tiger, perhaps. Well over two meters tall, the captain concluded that this man was the one in command. Unharmed by winds and rain and even storm, he only wore a simple, black tank top to cover his muscled upper body and equally black pants that were stuffed into brown boots.

 _He's not even armed. So sure are they of their superiority._

The other man beside him, a little smaller than his comrade, didn't seem a warrior at first, but after carefully eyeing him, Sanji came to the conclusion that his traits were merely overshadowed by the other. He, too, was covered in defined muscle but more on the swift side of things, wearing an Estoc at his belt. The man's head was shaven bald and Sanji couldn't help himself but to be reminded of a bird when seeing his facial features. Not one of the friendly ones, a dove or a sparrow, perhaps, but the sharp features of a humanised bird of prey. Fierce and piercing blue eyes, a distinct nose and an expression that just shouted 'Don't mess with me' rounded up the captain's impression. The colour scheme he chose for his clothes was a mix of brown and white, furthering his look as a human bird of prey.

 _How can they be here while their ships are not even within cannon range? Or .. are we within theirs?_

The captain noted to himself that he liked nothing about the current situation. They were not enemies, not yet, but he was still weak and recovering from both the use of the combat drug and the fighting that came beforehand. That, and it looked like he would be permanently blind on one eye. All things considered, it was a terrible position to start any and all negotiations from and if they didn't know now, they would sooner rather than later. Warriors from throughout the world knew it when their prey was in a weakened state, even if it tried to play strong.

 _I still have the Marauder. Not all is lost. Not just yet._

He came to a halt between Avian and Stone, facing the visitors head on, but before he could say anything they took away the largest advantage he thought to have: his anonymity.

"I've been wondering when we would see the first of Germa's Black Ships on the sea, but I didn't expect one of them in the East Blue. Would you mind explaining how that comes to pass, _Vinsmoke_?"

Sanji had to bring up every last drop of willpower he still had in him to not react to the sound of his family's name and, somehow, he succeeded. Staying calm and collected on the outside, his mind began to race in every possible direction to find a solution for the plethora of problems that opened up before him.

 _How does he know?! Of everything, of the Black Ships, of myself! They were supposed to be top secret, my identity was supposed to be perfectly hidden! There's not a single sign of Germa on the ship, the crew's uniforms are without any insignia or emblem! There's only one way he could have found out: Treason. Germa must be overrun with spies up into the high echelon's of father's court!_

The blonde man's voice was friendly with a casual undertone, but the captain knew that he was in for a world of possible problems. Even the next step was dangerous, but he had to take it lest they would think of him as a coward.

"I'm afraid that I can't share this information, much less with someone unknown to myself."

Sanji knew that he needed to stay neutral at all costs, even if they somehow managed to destroy their ships and kill the crews, the mighty Emperor Kaido would declare war on Germa and no weapon, no matter how technologically sophisticated, would spare them from his wrath. Kaido had a reputation to take every little, sometimes even just presumed, slight to his honour serious. 'Serious', coming from a Yonkou, usually meant absolute obliteration.

"Oh, I certainly do understand that. You're very well behaved, captain, not to talk to strangers about your secrets. But see, while I might be a stranger to you, the feeling's not mutual."

 _He's openly condescending. On my own ship, surrounded by my armed men. I should take his head right now or die trying!_

But even if he did, the shame would carry on to his afterlife, no one would venerate his name as a prince, as a champion to Germa's cause. He would either be mocked, hated or .. worse even, forgotten. Forcefully erased from his homeland's history. This was a fight that he simply could not win and both of them knew it. The visitor continued, making a few steps towards him and his strategoi.

"You're the old man's third son, _captain_ , am I not right? You don't need to answer, the look on your face tells me more than your tongue will ever be able to. Sanji, isn't it? His majesty's problem child from all that I've heard. Weaker than his siblings, not nearly as resilient but, if the rumours are true, with a sound military mind."

The captain swallowed heavily. Not only did they catch him with his pants dropped, they knew much more about him than they had any right to. Even the results of some of his tests were not unknown to them. He stood in silence.

"No wonder that the East Blue is the destination for you, princeling. Did the old man tell you to sail this way? I guess so, especially when we compare you with your siblings. Every single one of them, riding a leviathan such as this, could have been sent to the New World and they would make a name for themselves. But you .. oh, better not. Bet that your father thought that it might be a quick boost to your ego if you had some degree of success in the weakest Blue of all. Imagine his disappointment if he looked at you now! Even with all your tech, you still managed to get hurt! And badly at that!"

It was painfully obvious to Sanji that the other man, who was visibly surpressing a burst of laughter, was .. right. Right about him, more or less right about his mission. Every mayor conflict he was engaged in was child's play. Hundreds, thousands died, but it was nothing. They were not of importance, had no name to them, no reputation. It was a rare occassion to even find someone with the powers of a devil fruit.

 _He has seen through me. I'm an open book. But what is his intention behind all of this?_

"See, _captain_ Sanji", he again noted the open mockery the visitor put into the word 'captain', "I'm not here to disturb your playful journey to manhood or whatever glorified name it carries. I'm indeed trying to be your friend in these matters, do you understand? And as a friend, I'd like to give you one piece of advice: Don't come near Alaran. You shouldn't care about anything they have to offer, simply forget that you've seen us and stay on course to the next island and we will do likewise. This is an easy way out, Vinsmoke prince. No one will hear of our meeting and you can ride these waves for as long as you want."

He put on an easy smile that did not extend to his eyes. Further watching him, Sanji was sure that he wasn't actually smiling. Baring his teeth, he seemed to be as ferocious as the animal, whose pelt he wore over his shoulders, had been while it still lived. If not moreso.

"However, if you'd lose your mind and cross us .." There was no need for him to finish that sentence, even the trained and – to put it lightly – brainwashed and conditioned soldiers appeared to be shivering for a second.

"Well, look at the time! How very nice of you to receive us, _captain_ , it was such a good and friendly talk we had. For your sake, I hope that our next one lies in the far future."

Without giving him or just about anyone else the opportunity to answer – not that he had given said opportunity during his long monologue -, both of them turned around and walked towards the railing. Sanji expected them to simply jump down into the small boat they presumably used to transport them to the Marauder, but he was mistaken. Not giving any regard to the surrounding crewmen, both of the visitors transformed together.

 _Zoan users. I should have known. A lot of Kaido's underlings are._

Sanji had seen those who ate the devil fruits that were classified as 'Zoan', enabling them to take the forms of animals. They belonged to the more common kind of fruit, but what they transformed into was out of the ordinary. Even out of the world, as far as he knew, taken right from the vast lore of myths and legends that people told to each other from around the world since the beginning of time. And what a glorious sight it was to behold them.

The silent man finished his transformation first and Sanji felt just a little confirmed that his observatory skills were not lacking. Yet he wasn't turning into an eagle or some other kind of bird of prey, but into a mythological beast that once might have ruled the skies: a griffon! Large enough for a man to ride him and with enough muscles to put even a giant to shame, he threw himself into the air with a single beating of his mighty wings, unleashing so much force that Sanji had great difficulties to stay on his feet. That one alone would have caused both panic and awe, even in the civilised parts of the world that knew about the existence of devil fruits, but the other one stole the entire show.

During his transformation it seemed as if the white pelt on his back not only vanished into his body, as could be par for the course of zoan fruits, but became a part of it. Mere moments later, the captain found himself staring at an impossibly large, white tiger, and it was staring back at him. While one could say that the maw of a normal tiger was able to crush a man's bones with ease, this one ..

 _.. is so much more. His fangs look like they can bite through steel and break a giant in half. Let alone a man with normal proportions. Is this, too, a mythical zoan? Could it be that it was modelled after the divine White Tiger of the Western Sky, Byakko?_

All Sanji could do was stare, his body feeling paralysed in awe of this majestic creature.

Without speaking another word, the tiger launched itself into the air and began to ride the wind, each and every step accompanied by the sound of booming thunder that could be heard for as long as he was in sight and even after he reached his own ship.

Behind him, the captain could hear his two advisors talking.

"That .. was definitely something else."

"There it is! I can see it!" Nami was shouting at the top of her lungs to bring the others to deck.

"It's .. huge. Definitely huge. And by far not the most welcoming thing I've ever seen."

The man called Roronoa Zoro was right with his observations. Even though the walls of Alaran stood a good 15 meters high, every visitor could still see the massive statue that was placed behind them, a winged humanoid carrying an equally massive, two-handed sword in its hands.

"Wow! But .. what is that? A bird person?" For that comment, the longnosed one, Usopp, gave his captain a clout behind the ear.

"Are you blind? That's not a bird person, it's a chicken person!"

Nami couldn't believe that these idiots managed to help her escape from the blonde warlord. Not even in the slightest. Pressing her palm against her forehead, she tried to correct them with varying degrees of success.

"It's not a chicken, Usopp! Have you guys never heard of the Angel's Tale? It's a commonly accepted story in Alaran and the surrounding islands that, in the hour of their greatest need, a celestial being descended from the Heavens to protect the city against an unnameable evil. She's the patron saint of the city and I really need to get in there, so, please, don't call her chicken or bird or whatever idiotic thing that's coming to your mind when we're within earshot of the inhabitants!"

 _If what Avian told me is true, getting into the city will be a challenge in and of itself._

Indeed, he seemed to be right. Instead of being able to sail into the city's fortified harbour, they were intercepted by a welcoming comitee of sorts halfway before they reached it.

"State your names, professions and intent, pirates! If you fail to comply, we will ask you to leave our waters at once! If you fail to do that, there'll be hell to play!"

The other ship was surprisingly large for a city that built its wealth on trade and they immediately made clear that their words were not to be taken lightly. No less than six cannons were trained on their ship – the pirates only recently told her that she was called 'Going Merry' – and two dozen armoured riflemen were quickly lining up on the railing.

 _That's good news. Is it good news? They know that we're pirates and they're not going to immediately attack us. That must be good news. Please, guys, don't be stupid now._

She should have wished for something more realistic.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to be the King of Pirates!"

 _Well, it's been a nice try. Good bye, cruel world._

Nami closed her eyes and patiently waited for the shooting to start, but there was laughter instead. When she opened her eyes again, she realised that they were not dead yet. The man who appeared to be in command seemed not only taken aback, but even a little more casual about the situation now.

"I fear that Alaran's not the right city for your aspirations, boy. If you leave our waters now, there will be no violence, but I can't permit you into the city." Speaking the last words, it was obvious to Nami that he'd be adamant about that. To Luffy, not so much.

"You can't forbid us to enter the city, the sea belongs to everyone!"

The officer was dumbstruck at this pirate's useless defiance and Nami felt how some tension between them returned. The slightly lowered rifles were brought up again and the next time the soldier spoke, his tone was nowhere as friendly as before, if not threatening.

"That might very well be, boy, but this city is ours and we're here to protect it from a malicious pirate. How can we tell that you're no in league with him, trying to undermine our morals and sabotage our defenses from within?! This is your last chance, pirates, return to the sea or face the consequences."

 _No, please, no!_

"I'm not a pirate, sir! Please, admit me into the city! I'll be staying only until I've found passage to the Conomi Islands! I've been kidnapped by a warlord and just want to get home!"

For a long time, the officer was staring at her, possibly asking himself if he could believe her, but in the end, his orders and the security of the city prevailed turned out ot be more important to him.

"I apologise, miss, but even under these dire circumstances I can't possibly allow a stranger, without inherent use for the city, into our walls. Maybe you can find a ship that will take you home on one of our surrounding islands. I wish you the best of luck."

 _The islands. Yes, of course. Maybe I can persuade Luffy to take me there?_

Luffy still wouldn't waver and by the second, the chances for hostile actions grew. Even Zoro was back on his feet again, and though he was wounded he was every bit as menacing as he had been when he fought the other captain.

 _If it comes to a fight, I'll never reach Cocoyasi again. Either we die here or they'll put a bounty on our heads! They'll just think of me as one of them! I'll be a pirate, my face known to the whole world! I mustn't allow this! Never!_

"You, with the impressive strawhat .. would you be ready to accept a trade – of sorts – in exchange for passage into the city?"

That voice was new, feminine, friendly. Nami was fairly sure that there was no underlying threat, no hostility towards them. It was a simple question and she was tempted to just shout out 'YES'. Though some deals, she remembered vividly, were too good to be true, and this might quickly prove to be one of them.

At once, the officer went silent and took a step to the side, as did his soldiers. They made a gap for the owner of that feminine voice, a woman who seemed to be in her mid twenties, brown of hair, displaying a broad and welcoming smile on her crimson lips. She was clad in a wide, white robe that reminded Nami of a priest and kept her hair long and open so that it might move with the wind. She was rather small in physique, too - the soldiers next to her were nearly two heads taller - yet still they respectfully bowed their heads towards her.

 _Whatever she's on about, we need to think about it. Maybe she'll admit us into the city as slaves? I'm not doing that, not again. We need to keep a calm and clean mind to .._

"Sure, what do you wanna trade?!"

"Passage into the city in exchange for your bodies. The strength of your arms, the resilience you carry within your hearts, the dreams of great things to come to you. What I want from you is but one thing: Your blood. Your blood to defend our walls, to hold the gates of our beloved City-Beneath-The-Wing. Promise to me to stand side by side with our soldiers to face the oncoming storm and in return, I will swear to vouch for your admittance into Alaran before the city's council.


End file.
